Seyitgazi

Template: Infobox city in Turkey / Maintenance / County

Seyitgazi ( in ancient Nakoleia ) is a Turkish town and capital of the district with 3,197 inhabitants in Anatolia, 38 km southeast of Eskisehir in the homonymous province.

Nikoleia first belonged to the realm of the Phrygians and fell in 133 BC to the Roman Empire. In the year 366 the Roman Emperor Valens here achieved the decisive victory over his adversary Procopius. 399 the city was, now belonging to the Eastern Roman Empire, occupied briefly by Ostrogothic forces under Tribigild. Up to 768 Nakoleia remained with Ostrom, but was then conquered by the Arabs and was renamed in honor of their legendary leader Battal Gazi in Seyitgazi. The name Nakoleia however, lives on in the Roman Catholic Titularerzbistum Nacolia.

As one of the first mosques of Anatolia was built in the place Seyitgazi has a great importance in the eyes of the Muslim population. The mosque from the 13th century and the associated Dervish monastery located on a hill just southeast of the city. In the mosque of the seven -meter-long coffin ( Turbe ) of Battal Gazi is housed. His mistress, a Byzantine princess, there are also laid out. The monastery houses an archaeological museum with finds from the site and the surrounding area.

At the output of Seyitgazi, 10 km towards kirka, there is a turnoff to Midas Şehir, one of the most important Phrygian sites in Turkey.

In Phrygian period this area was probably forested, but there are hardly any trees in the presence of between Eskişehir to Seyitgazi. The hilly landscape is instead dominated by wheat fields, which are irrigated by canals.