Balikesir

Balıkesir is the capital city of Balıkesir Province. Balıkesir is in the Marmara region of Turkey and has a population of 265,747 inhabitants. Old name is Karesi or Karasi.Balıkesir's former name was Karasi, because Balıkesir city was founded by Karasi Beg in the 13th century.

Close to modern Balıkesir was the Roman town of Hadrianutherae, founded, as its name commemorates, by the emperor Hadrian.Balıkesir has a Mediterranean Climate with long, hot and dry summers with cool and rainy winters.Winters are cool but sometimes turn cold and snowfalls can occur.The Zaganos Pasha Mosque Complex and Yildirim Mosque are popular spiritual areas. Many old Balıkesir houses in the Aygoren and Karaoglan district remain from the Ottoman period.