İncirliova 5.37

İncirliova is a town and a district of Aydın Province, in the Aegean region of Turkey, 10km west of the city of Aydın.EtymologyFormerly known as "Karapınar" the name was changed in 1937 to İncirliova meaning, literally, "the valley of figs", in reference to the fruit (ficus carica, formerly called Smyrna figs) in whose production the province of Aydın excels.HistorySee Aydın for the rich history of this area, which has so much remaining from antiquity that it feels like an open museum.The area has changed hands many times throughout history, from the Hittites in the 13th century BC through the Phrygians, Lydians, Ionians, Persians, Alexander the Great, Ancient Rome and Byzantium. The Turkish settlement here was founded in the 15th century by the Madanoğlu family and as it was well watered was called "Karapınar" (dark spring).The Karapınar area really developed with the building of the İzmir-Aydın railway, founded by a British company to ensure a new source of cotton during the world shortage caused by the American Civil War. Following the railway came other industries including the spinning of cotton and the extraction of olive oil and the surrounding wetlands were drained to create more land for planting. At the same time water was channeled to bathhouses and mills in the ever-growing town.