Edremit, Van

Hikayemiz

This article is on the town and the district of Edremit in Van Province, eastern Turkey. For the town and the district of Edremit in Balıkesir Province, on the Aegean coast in western Turkey, see Edremit, Balıkesir.Edremit (Ertemêtan) is a district of Van Province of Turkey. The district's center town of the same name is situated on the coast of the Lake Van at a distance of 18km from the city of Van.Etymology The current name of Edremit originates from Armenian name of Artamet, which literally means "Near the Fields" in Armenian, as it lies near the fields of grape and apple trees at the coastline of lake Van. Also, Artamet deserved the title of the capital of Armenian apples, because during millennia Artamet's apples believed to be better in the whole Armenia. The Greek name for Edremit is Adramyttion (Άδραμύττιον). Greeks connect this name with the ancient Greek goddess Artemis. The Latin name is Adramyttium.HistoryArtamet's foundation predates the Christian era. It was founded as a small town at the shores of Lake Van in Tosp district of Vaspurakan province lying in the middle of Historical Armenia. In the course of history, the city has had several names: Artemida, Zard, Artashessyan, Avan, Artavanyan and now - Edremit. In the 10th century Artamet was known as a feudal city with a population of 12 000. It was renowned for the best apples in all Armenia. At the beginning of the 19th century Artamet had approximately 500 houses, 435 of which were Armenian, and 65 Turkish. After the first Armenian genocide of 1894–1896 the number of Turkish houses rose so quickly that the city consisting of 600 families has already 200 Armenian and 400 Turkish families.