Divriği
Divriği is a town of eleven thousand people in Sivas Province, Turkey, and is the district capital of Divriği District. The town lies on a gentle slope on the south bank of the Çaltısuyu river, a tributary of the Karasu river which flows into the Euphrates.
The 13th century Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği are on UNESCO's World Heritage List by virtue of the exquisite carvings and architecture of both buildings. There are large iron mines nearby and the town is on the Turkish rail network.
History
The Hittites may have mined and made use of the iron ore in the area.In the 9th century the town was known as Abrik and controlled by the Paulicians with the support of Arabs and the emir of Malatya. It had been founded ca. 850 by Karbeas, the leader of the Paulicians, a heretical Armenian sect that adhered to a dualistic cosmology. The Paulicians fortified it and used it as refuge and the capital of their state during the ninth century.
Later called Tephrike it was recaptured by the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Emperor Basil I and was temporarily named Leontokome and made into a thema. In the early eleventh century, the town was part of the territory given to the Armenian king Seneqerim-Hovhannes of Vaspurakan in exchange for his lands in Vaspurakan.
After the battle of Manzikert, Divriği came under the control of the Sultanate of Rûm. The Mengüjeks built the Divriği [Great Mosque and Hospital|Great Mosque and hospital]. A medieval castle, with remains mostly from the thirteenth century, is situated on top of a steep hill overlooking the town.