Ortaca
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Ortaca (Turkish pronunciation: [oɾtadʒa]) is a town and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. Apart from Ortaca district center, there is one depending township with own municipality, namely Dalyan. Ortaca is a typical Turkish working-class town with an economy based on agriculture.
Variants
- Ortacea (River) (Pliny.vi.31)
Jat Gotras Namesake
- Vardak = Ortacea (River) (Pliny.vi.31). Ortaca is a town and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean region of Turkey.
Location
It lies midway between Dalaman and Köyceğiz.
Origin
Its name literally means "the town in the middle", possibly a reference to its location in the middle of the surrounding plain and is indeed a regional hub.
History
Economy
The town pulls benefits from this fertile plain and the economy largely depends on tomatoes, citrus fruits, cotton and pomegranates. The market day is on Fridays and the whole town becomes a hive of activity worthy of a visit. A regular bus service operates between Dalaman and Dalyan via Ortaca as well as to other main coastal centers. This burgeoning town has supermarkets, shops, bars and cafes at attractive prices and is only 15 minutes from the international Dalaman Airport, 10 minutes from the marvel of the nature that is Dalyan and 20 minutes from the unspoilt beach at Sarıgerme. In line with recent policies aimed at opening the entire region to international tourism, Ortaca is growing rather fast, which is also a consequence of the rapid population growth in Turkey in general. Ortaca is also becoming an increasingly attractive market for Foreign purchases of real estate in Turkey.
Mention by Pliny
Pliny[1] mentions Tigris... Below the Eulæus is Elymais44, upon the coast adjoining to Persis, and extending from the river Orates45 to Charax, a distance of two hundred and forty miles. Its towns are Seleucia46 and Socrate47, upon Mount Casyrus. The shore which lies in front of this district is, as we have already stated, rendered inaccessible by mud,48 the rivers Brixa and Ortacea bringing down vast quantities of slime from the interior, —Elymais itself being so marshy that it is impossible to reach Persis that way, unless by going completely round: it is also greatly infested with serpents, which are brought down by the waters of these rivers.
44 Previously mentioned in c. 28.
45 The modern Tab.
46 Now called Camata, according to Parisot.
47 The modern Saurac, according to Parisot. The more general reading is "Sosirate."
48 Our author has nowhere made any such statement as this, for which reason Hardouin thinks that he here refers to the maritime region mentioned in c. 29 of the present Book (p. 69), the name of which Sillig reads as Ciribo. Hardouin would read it as Syrtibolos, and would give it the meaning of the "muddy district of the Syrtes." It is more likely, however, that Pliny has made a slip, and refers to something which, by inadvertence, he has omitted to mention.
References
Back to Jat Places in Turkey