From Past To Present

Erzurum is one of the oldest settlements in Anatolia due to its close position to settlement centers of the oldest and significant civilizations and its history dates back to thousands of years ago. We have written about the long journey of this unique city for you.

Prehistoric Period

When you look through the dusty pages of history, you can see Erzurum dates back to 4900 BC. The city was built by the Azzi-Hayasha Kingdom for the first time in the 11th century BC, then it was ruled by the Urartians in the 8th century BC. Following the Urartians who reigned on Erzurum land for about 300 years, the Medes took the city in 585 BC but only managed to keep it for 35 years. After that, the Persian Empire conveyed all its culture and knowledge to this beautiful city. 200 years after them, around 330 BC, Alexander the Great from Macedonia, who was unstoppable at the time, conquered the city. Although the Seleucid Empire that reigned after Alexander maintained its presence for 203 years, they lost Erzurum to the Parthians in 120 AC. The Romans took the city when the prehistoric era was about to end and they kept it until 395 AC.

The city was conquered by the Byzantine Empire in 395 and shaped with the Byzantine culture until it was taken by the Sassanids in 610. As you can understand from all this information, the most important settlers of Erzurum, believed to be built around 4900 BC, are the Hurrians, Assyrians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Medes, Persians, Romans and Byzantine.

Erzurum Ac

The biggest city of the Eastern Anatolia, Erzurum was under the rule of the Byzantine (East Rome) until 395 AC. Then, the city changed hands again between the Sasanians and Byzantine, and the Byzantine built their city Theodosiopolis in 422. In 633, Erzurum was besieged by the Muslim armies under the command of Ömer bin Hattab and transferred to the Muslims the same year. After that, the population of the city rapidly grew, up to 200 thousand. In the following centuries, the city got weaker due to conflicts between Islam states and conquered by the Byzantine once again. The Byzantine rule was ceased by the Seljuqs with the Pasinler war in 1048.

In the following years, Erzurum was conquered by many different states from the first Turkic governorate in Anatolia, the Saltuqids, Ilkhanids, Qara Qoyunlus and Timur, and finally it was taken by the Ottoman Empire. The city was conquered by the janissaries under the command of Yavuz Sultan Selim in 1514 and it was officially declared a land of the state during the rule of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent.

Recent Period

In the 1800s, the Russian state besieged Erzurum for three times that happened in 1828, 1829, 1878 and 1916, respectively. The city was taken back every time, and the Principal Teacher and Great Leader Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, willing to establish a new Turkish state on the lands that were lost by the Ottoman after the World War One, raised awareness among the public and organized a congress in the city during the preparations for the War of Independence.

Today

Erzurum, besides being one the most important cities with the highest moral value of the Republic of Turkey, that maintains its existence as a symbol of the importance of independence and the sovereignty of the people, raises its youth according to the principles and reforms of Ataürk and is fully committed to meet all of the requirements of the republic, is also one of the most popular spots for winter tourism in Turkey with its competency required by the conduct of tourism without compromising on its dignified presence despite its challenging times in the past.