Kahramanmaras and the specialities of the region

Kahramanmaraş is a provincial centre in the east of Turkey and has got 465.370 inhabitants (number from 2007). Up to the end of the Turkish Independence War the town and the province was only called Maraş.

As to remember its resistance and fight for freedom, however, it received the epithet Kahraman ("hero") and was called Kahramanmaraş (heroic town of Marash) from then on.

Specialities of the region

The speciality of the region is the ice cream Maraş Dondurma which is traditionally prepared of nanny goat milk and the ice and snow from the mountain Ahirdağ. This ice cream is very much particular, because it has an elastic, chewing gum-like consistency until it melts. Because of that phenomenon it is mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records when one day there was a competition to stretch it from one electrical post to another electric post. Another idea was to freeze it onto a coach and then lift the coach by a crane which was just using the connection of the ice cream to the coach as fixing.

Other specialities are filled Maraş Içli Köfte (Bulgur pockets with walnut and meat), Eksili Çorbasi (a salty-sour soup with many different herbs) and Maraş Tarhanasi (wheat dough with yoghurt which is dried in disks). This is a snack you can eat natural, can fry or can use as a basement for soup. Another speciality is the soup trowel paça, made from soft meat is well prepared in the province. The red sharp chilli from Maraş is well known as well.

In the medieval stronghold which sits enthroned about the town there is an archaeological museum with a large collection of hethitian sculptures from this region. Besides, there are some mosques, one of them called Ulu Cami (mosque) from the 15th century as well as Hatuniye and Beyazit from the osmanian epoch, Koran schools as the most important one called Taş Medresesi from the 15th century is worth mentioning and as well you can find some old churches. Furthermore the town has a huge dam, a wonderful water reservoir, several marvelous alps with lakes, springs, waterfalls and limestone caves. There are many pretty old buildings and an interesting Old Town which is known above all because of her copper trade and metal trade.