Karaman

The town owes its name to Karaman Bey, who was one of the rulers of the Karamanid dynasty. The former name Laranda which in turn comes from the Luwian language Larawanda, literally means "sandy, a sandy place".Bilge Umar. Türkiye'deki Tarihsel Adlar. İnkılap Kitabevi, 1993. {{ISBN|975-10-0539-6}}.

File:Karaman Müze 01.jpg.]]

In ancient times, Karaman was known as Lānda in Hittite and Laranda{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Karaman |volume=15 |page=676}} ({{langx|el|Λάρανδα}}). In the 6th century BC it came under Achaemenid rule until 322 BC, when it was destroyed by Perdiccas, a former general of Alexander the Great, after he had defeated Ariarathes I, king of Cappadocia.Diodorus Siculus 18.22.1-2

It later became a seat of Isaurian pirates. At some point it was possessed by Antipater of Derbe.[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc1:12.6.3 Strabo, Geography, §12.6.3]

It belonged to the Roman and later Byzantine Empires until it was captured by the Seljuks in the early 12th century. Karaman was occupied by Frederick Barbarossa in 1190 and by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia between 1211 and 1216. In 1256, the town was taken by Karaman Bey and was renamed Karaman in his honour. From 1275, Karaman was the capital of the Karamanid beylik.

In 1468 the Karamanids were conquered by the Ottomans and in 1483 the capital of the province was moved to Konya. Karaman has retained ruins of a Karamanid castle and some walls, two mosques and a Koran school (madrasah) from that age. A mihrab from a mosque from Karaman can now be found in the Çinili Pavilion near the Archeology Museum in Istanbul.

The Karamanslis were Cappadocian Turkomans who fought the Ottomans. Later they integrated into the empire.

File:Karaman clocktower 4817 (cropped).jpg

There was a Roman Catholic titular see for the city.{{CathEncy|wstitle=Laranda}}

The poet Yunus Emre ({{Circa|1238–1320}}) resided in Karaman during his later years and is believed to lie buried beside the Yunus Emre Mosque. A small adjacent park is adorned with quotations from his verse, many of them graffiti-splattered. In 1222, the Sufi preacher Bahaeddin Veled arrived in town with his family, and the Karamanoğlu emir built a madrasah to accommodate them. Veled's son was the famous Rumi, who married his wife, Gevher Hatun, while his family was living in Karaman. It was here, too, that Rumi's mother died in 1224. She was buried, along with other family members, in the Aktekke Mosque (also known as the Mader-i Mevlana Cami), which Alaeddin Ali Bey had built to replace the original madrasah in 1370.{{cite web|title=Today's Zaman|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=144184&bolum=117|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629231929/http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=144184&bolum=117|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-06-29}}, todayszaman.com

When Thomas Jefferson fought Libya's Barbary pirates, he replaced one member of the al-Qaramanli dynasty with another as Pasha.

• Nestor of Laranda, an epic poet, the father of the poet Peisander.[https://topostext.org/work/240#nu.261 Suda Encyclopedia, §nu.261]
• Peisander of Laranda an epic poet, the son of the poet Nestor.

The bearers of the Greek name Karamanlis as well as other surnames beginning with "Karaman" are a toponymic surname for the town.

File:Karaman_Eski_Kütüphane_4722.jpg|Karaman Street view

File:Karaman 2144.jpg|Karaman Nefesi Sultan Medresesi monumental entrance

File:Karaman 4808.jpg|Karaman Medrese of Nefesi Sultan

File:Karaman 2149.jpg|Karaman Hac Beyler Mosque Entrance

File:Karaman 4780.jpg|Karaman Haci Beyler Camisi entrance

File:Karaman 2199.jpg|Karaman Ibrahim Bey Imareti door

File:Karaman 4846.jpg|Karaman Ibrahim Bey Mosque

File:Istanbul june 2008 2805.jpg|Ibrahim Bey Mihrab in Çinili Köşk

File:Karaman 4856.jpg|Karaman Castle Mosque and surroundings

File:Karaman 2230.jpg|Karaman Castle mosque

File:Karaman 4768.jpg|Karaman Ak Tekke interior

File:Karaman 4862.jpg|Karaman Castle Exterior

File:Karaman 4863.jpg|Karaman Castle Interior

File:Karaman Museum 2067.jpg|Karaman Museum Can Hasan I Pottery

File:Karaman Museum 2063.jpg|Karaman Museum Iconostasis doors

File:Karaman Museum 2082.jpg|Karaman Museum Kadın fez süsü

File:Karaman Museum 2187.jpg|Karaman Museum Cowry shell adorned objects

Karaman has a cold semi-arid climate under Köppen climate classification (BSk) and a continental climate under the Trewartha climate classification (Dc), with hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. Karaman is generally very sunny, with almost 3000 hours of sunshine per year.

{{Weather box

|metric first= Yes

|single line= Yes

|location= Karaman (1991–2020, extremes 1951–2023)

| Jan record high C = 21.2

| Feb record high C = 22.3

| Mar record high C = 28.7

| Apr record high C = 32.3

| May record high C = 34.4

| Jun record high C = 37.5

| Jul record high C = 40.4

| Aug record high C = 41.4

| Sep record high C = 39.1

| Oct record high C = 34.0

| Nov record high C = 26.2

| Dec record high C = 22.3

| year record high C = 41.4

| Jan high C = 5.6

| Feb high C = 7.5

| Mar high C = 12.9

| Apr high C = 18.3

| May high C = 23.7

| Jun high C = 28.3

| Jul high C = 31.7

| Aug high C = 31.7

| Sep high C = 27.7

| Oct high C = 21.3

| Nov high C = 13.5

| Dec high C = 7.5

| year high C = 19.1

| Jan mean C = 0.7

| Feb mean C = 2.1

| Mar mean C = 6.7

| Apr mean C = 11.7

| May mean C = 16.6

| Jun mean C = 20.8

| Jul mean C = 24.0

| Aug mean C = 23.7

| Sep mean C = 19.5

| Oct mean C = 13.8

| Nov mean C = 6.8

| Dec mean C = 2.5

| year mean C = 12.4

| Jan low C = -3.4

| Feb low C = -2.7

| Mar low C = 0.9

| Apr low C = 5.2

| May low C = 9.5

| Jun low C = 13.3

| Jul low C = 16.0

| Aug low C = 15.8

| Sep low C = 11.3

| Oct low C = 6.7

| Nov low C = 1.0

| Dec low C = -1.7

| year low C = 6.0

| Jan record low C = -26.8

| Feb record low C = -28.0

| Mar record low C = -20.2

| Apr record low C = -8.3

| May record low C = -3.1

| Jun record low C = 3.1

| Jul record low C = 6.4

| Aug record low C = 3.6

| Sep record low C = -1.0

| Oct record low C = -8.5

| Nov record low C = -21.2

| Dec record low C = -26.1

| year record low C = -28.0

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 41.8

| Feb precipitation mm = 33.7

| Mar precipitation mm = 33.6

| Apr precipitation mm = 32.1

| May precipitation mm = 34.0

| Jun precipitation mm = 28.0

| Jul precipitation mm = 6.7

| Aug precipitation mm = 8.7

| Sep precipitation mm = 9.2

| Oct precipitation mm = 25.8

| Nov precipitation mm = 32.9

| Dec precipitation mm = 48.8

| year precipitation mm = 335.3

| Jan precipitation days = 10.27

| Feb precipitation days = 8.93

| Mar precipitation days = 9.03

| Apr precipitation days = 7.97

| May precipitation days = 8.6

| Jun precipitation days = 5.67

| Jul precipitation days = 1.27

| Aug precipitation days = 1.27

| Sep precipitation days = 2

| Oct precipitation days = 5.1

| Nov precipitation days = 5.8

| Dec precipitation days = 9.77

| year precipitation days =

|Jan humidity=74.6

|Feb humidity=70.1

|Mar humidity=60.2

|Apr humidity=54.9

|May humidity=52.4

|Jun humidity=47.4

|Jul humidity=41.2

|Aug humidity=42.9

|Sep humidity=47.3

|Oct humidity=57.3

|Nov humidity=67.1

|Dec humidity=73.8

|year humidity=

| Jan sun = 105.4

| Feb sun = 127.1

| Mar sun = 189.1

| Apr sun = 234.0

| May sun = 297.6

| Jun sun = 342.0

| Jul sun = 387.5

| Aug sun = 356.5

| Sep sun = 294.0

| Oct sun = 229.4

| Nov sun = 159.0

| Dec sun = 99.2

| year sun =

| Jand sun = 3.4

| Febd sun = 4.5

| Mard sun = 6.1

| Aprd sun = 7.8

| Mayd sun = 9.6

| Jund sun = 11.4

| Juld sun = 12.5

| Augd sun = 11.5

| Sepd sun = 9.8

| Octd sun = 7.4

| Novd sun = 5.3

| Decd sun = 3.2

| yeard sun = 7.7

|source 1 = Turkish State Meteorological Service{{cite web

| url = https://www.mgm.gov.tr/veridegerlendirme/il-ve-ilceler-istatistik.aspx?k=H&m=KARAMAN

| title = Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Mevism Normalleri (1991–2020)

| publisher = Turkish State Meteorological Service

| language = tr

| access-date = 6 July 2021}}

|date=January 2012

|source 2 = NOAA (humidity){{cite web

| url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Turkiye/CSV/Karaman_17246.csv

| title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020

| publisher = National centers for Environmental Information |format=CSV

| access-date = 2 August 2023}}}}

• 1984-1989 Hasan Özkaymak ANAP
• 1989-1999 Yaşar Evcen SHP, CHP
• 1999-2004 Halil İbrahim Gülcan MHP
• 2004-2009 Ali Kantürk AK Party
• 2009-2014 Kamil Uğurlu AK Party
• 2014-2019 Ertuğrul Çalışkan AK Party
• 2019-present Savaş Kalaycı MHP

• Anatolian Tigers

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikivoyage|Karaman}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Karaman District}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Archaeological sites in Central Anatolia

Category:Provincial municipalities in Turkey

Category:Populated places in Karaman District

Category:Karamanids

Category:Lycaonia