Nazilli

Nazilli

Nazilli is the second most populated district of Aydın province in the Aegean Region. On Aydın-Denizli Highway, İzmir-Denizli railway; It is 45 km away from Efeler district and 81 km away from Denizli. Its surface area is 664 km² and its population is 162,737 according to 2022 ADNKS data. Evliya Çelebi visited Nazilli in 1671. He compared the beauty and coyness of the city to girls and claimed that the name Nazilli came from here. Another view is that Nazilli was founded by a tribe lord from the Turkish tribe named Nazlu, near Dereköy. The name Nazlu evolved into Nazilli over time. Nazilli is one of the oldest settlements in the Aegean Region. There is no precise information about the first settlement of the district center. However, it is known that the Luwians settled in the Menderes Valley in the Caria region. The first settlement in this region is the ancient city of Mastaura, founded by the Lydians. At that time, the economic development of the Ionian cities in the west of the region and the city's location on the trade route between the Aegean and Near-Asian countries (Hierapolis-Tripolis-Mas Tavra-Nysa-Tralleis-Magnesia-Ephesus) enabled the Nazilli region to gain importance and develop. The fact that the train station in the district is on the Izmir-Aydın line, Turkey's first railway line, has enabled the district to become rapidly populated. Additionally, Nazilli Sümerbank Factory, opened by Atatürk in 1937, is Turkey's first printing factory. There was a hospital with 40 beds, a pharmacy and a laboratory within the factory. However, this factory was closed in 2002 and its campus was transferred to Adnan Menderes University.