ISPARTA

also spelled Isparta, formerly Hamid-abad, or Hamideli, city, western Turkey. Known as Baris under the Byzantine Empire, it was taken by the Seljuq Turks in 120304. Later it belonged to the Turkmen Hamid principality, the last ruler of which sold it to the Ottoman sultan about 1381. The city's monuments include a ruined medieval fortress and several mosques, of which Firdevs Pasa Cami is a work of the 16th-century master court architect Sinan. Isparta is known for its roses and attar (fragrant oil) of roses and for its carpets. A branch line connects it with the main Anatolian railway. Pop. (1985) 101,215.