Caesarea of Cappadocia

Caesarea (/ˌsɛzəˈriːə, ˌsɛsəˈriːə, ˌsiːzəˈriːə/; Greek: Καισάρεια, romanized: Kaisareia), also known historically as Mazaca or Mazaka (Greek: Μάζακα; Armenian: Մաժաք, probably from Old Iranian for "Mazdā-city"), was an ancient city in what is now Kayseri, Turkey. In Hellenistic and Roman times, the city was an important stop for merchants headed to Europe on the ancient Silk Road. The city was the capital of Cappadocia, and Armenian and Cappadocian kings regularly fought over control of the strategic city. The city was renowned for its bishops of both the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic churches.

After the Battle of Manzikert where the Byzantine Empire lost to the incoming Seljuk Empire, the city was later taken over by the Sultanate of Rum and became reconfigured over time with the influences of both Islamic and, later, Ottoman architecture.

Mazaca, the pre-Roman settlement underlying Caesarea in Cappadocia, is usually placed by modern scholarship in the area of present-day Kayseri, with the early urban nucleus associated with the Beştepeler archeological zone southwest of the modern city centre on the slopes of Mount Erciyes.