FESTIVAL DE KIRKPINAR

This festival of traditional Turkish wrestling(güreş) dates back to 1357. Men(pehlivan), their bodies coated with oil and wearing 13 kg leather briefs(kıspet), wrestle after warming up to the sound of drums and zurna (oboe). In 1360, in this region, forty soldiers of Suleiman engaged in a wrestling contest for several days. The two finalists, exhausted, died at the same time and were buried. When their companions returned a year later, they discovered a fertile valley(Kırkpınar) at the site of the graves.