KIRSEHIR

also spelled Kirshehr, city, central Turkey. It lies along a tributary of the Kizil River at an elevation of 3,248 feet (990 m). It may have been Justinianopolis (Mocissus), which, under the 6th-century Byzantine emperor Justinian, was a major town in the ancient district of Cappadocia. From the 14th to 18th century, Kirsehir was the stronghold of the influential Ahi brotherhood, a religious fraternity developed by the 14th-century leader Ahi Avran out of a medieval craftsmen's guild. The Cacabey Cami, a 12th-century Seljuq observatory converted into a mosque, the Aleddin Cami (13th century), and the mausoleum of the poet Asik Pasa are all standing. Kirsehir is linked by road with Ankara (90 miles northwest) and Nevsehir (46 miles southeast). Pop. (1990 prelim.) 74,546.