Nazilli

Hikayemiz

Nazilli is the second largest town in Aydın Province in the Aegean region of western Turkey, 47km east of the city of Aydın, on the road to Denizli.EtymologyNazilli is a Turkish name that has somehow evolved from the former (also Turkish) name of Pazarköy (market place). According to legend, the son of Aydın's governor in the Ottoman period, fell in love with a young woman from Pazarköy but was rejected by the girl's father. The young man later named the town Nazlı Ili (Nazlı's Home) after his loved one. The 17th century traveller Evliya Çelebi held that the town was named for the capriciousness ("naz") of the local women in this wealthy town. Or it could have been the name of a family of Oghuz Turks that settled here.Nazilli was still called Nazli by the British as of 1920.HistoryThese people practiced weaving and thus planted cotton in the area for this purpose. The Oghuz Turks were succeeded by the Anatolian beyliks of Menteşe (in 1280) and then Aydinids.In 1390 Bayezid I brought the area into the Ottoman Empire. At this time the town comprised two villages, Cuma Yeri (Friday Square) and Pazarköy (Weekday Market). The town was only later referred to as Nazliköy. In 1402 Tamerlane defeated Bayezid at the Battle of Ankara and took control of the Aegean region, giving the Nazilli area back to the Aydinid family. it was quickly recovered for the Ottomans by Sultan Murat II.