holding in her arms
Plutus (god of wealth) as a child.
Hellenistic art,
Roman period, 2nd century AD. Located in the
Istanbul Archaeology Museum From
Prusias ad Hypium (in the present-day il of Düzce). Historical Konuralp is 8 km north of Düzce; the first settlements there go back to 3rd century BC. Until 74 BC, it was one of the most important cities belonging to
Bithynia, which included Bilecik, Bolu, Sakarya, Kocaeli. It was conquered by Pontus and then by the Roman Empire. During the Roman period, the city was influenced by Latin culture, and it changed its name to
Prusias ad Hypium. Later on, Christianity affected the city and after the separation of the Roman Empire in 395, it was controlled by the
Eastern Roman Empire (the later
Byzantine Empire). In 1204, the Crusader armies invaded
Constantinople, establishing the
Latin Empire. Düzce and its surroundings are thought to have been under the dominance of the
Latin Empire during this period. Düzce was under
Byzantine rule again from 1261 to 1323.
Konuralp Bey, one of
Osman Gazi's commanders, was ordered to conquer Düzce and its surroundings to expand
Ottoman lands. The first Ottoman administrators in Düzce were Konuralp Bey, Sungur Bey, Semsi Bey and Gunduz Alp. During the Ottoman Empire, Düzce provided navy timber, and it became an important centre of transportation between Istanbul and cities further east, such as Sivas and Erzurum. During the rule of Sultan Abdulaziz and Abdulmecit, immigrants from the Caucasus, the Pontic coast, Transcaucasia and the Balkans increased the population of Düzce. The government provided them free land. It had 137 villages and 66,618 homes with a population of 36,088 during the rule of Abdulmecit II. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Düzce was part of the
Kastamonu Vilayet of the
Ottoman Empire. After the establishment of the republic, the city rapidly industrialized. The main economic sectors are forestry production, automotive parts, textile, hunting and sports guns, cement, pharmaceutical products, nuts and tobacco. It was hit by a series of earthquakes in this period, such as the 1944 Düzce earthquake, 1957 Abant earthquake, 1967 Adapazari earthquake, and in 1999, it was destroyed by the 17 August Izmit earthquake and the earthquake on 12 November 1999. The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.2 (Richter magnitude scale) and lasted for 30 seconds, killing 845 people and injuring over 5,000. To quickly rebuild the earthquake damaged areas, the Council of Ministers made Düzce the 81st province of Turkey in 1999. ==Climate==