Why Burdur
Burdur is a provincial capital situated in southwestern Turkey along the shores of Lake Burdur. Positioned between the Mediterranean coastline and the Anatolian interior, the city serves as a commercial, administrative, and educational hub for the region. Its surrounding countryside is defined by natural lakes, agricultural fields, and mountainous terrain.
Human settlement in the broader province extends back to 6500 BC, with the earliest evidence within the city itself dating to the Early Bronze Age. Historically part of the ancient region of Pisidia, the settlement was known as Limnombria and later as the Byzantine town of Polydorion. Following the Seljuk era in the late eleventh century, Oghuz Turkic tribes settled in the area. Under the Hamidid dynasty in 1300, the Grand Mosque was constructed, around which the urban settlement expanded. The town subsequently developed into a regional trade stop along routes linking the Aegean, the Black Sea, and central Anatolia before joining the Ottoman Empire in 1391.
Cultural tourism in Burdur centers on its historic sites and museum collections. The Burdur Archaeology Museum holds more than 60,000 artifacts gathered from prominent archaeological sites across the province, including material from Hacılar Höyük, Kuruçay Höyük, Sagalassos, and Kibyra. Another distinct local feature is a disused Greek church that was converted into a museum displaying a giant dinosaur fossil.
The city retains strong connections to the traditional Teke cultural area, preserving Yörük and Turkmen heritage through regional folk music, dance, local festivals, and traditional handicrafts such as weaving and embroidery. Burdur is also home to Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, which contributes significantly to local academic and cultural life. The local economy relies on cereal and fruit cultivation, animal husbandry, dairy production, textiles, and marble manufacturing.
Burdur acts as a primary gateway for visitors exploring southwestern Turkey's Lakes Region and prominent nearby attractions, such as Lake Salda. The city is accessible via a highway network connecting it to regional centers like Antalya, Isparta, Denizli, and Afyonkarahisar, and it is served by the national railway system. The climate features long, hot, and dry summers along with cold, wet, and often snowy winter seasons.
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