Aksaray is a city in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital district of Aksaray Province. According to 2009 census, population of the province is 376 907 of which 171,423 live in the city of Aksaray.[1][2] The district covers an area of 4,589 km2 (1,772 sq mi),[3] and the average elevation is 980 m (3,215 ft), with the highest point being Mt. Hasan at 3,253 m (10,673 ft).
Aksaray region was an important stopover along the Silk Road that crossed through Anatolia for centuries and the city of Aksaray has a long history.

The town of Garsaura was named Archelaïs (Greek: Ἀρχελαΐς) by Archelaus of Cappadocia, the last Cappadocian king. In Byzantine times, the town was known as Koloneia (Κολώνεια) and was a bishopric and a important military centre, holding an imperial aplekton.

The region came under the control of the Seljuk Turks after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. The Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate they founded left important landmarks in and around Aksaray. The Arab traveller Ibn Battuta who was in the region in the 14th century was impressed by the class of Muslim traders that had emerged in Aksaray and noted the urban center as a beautiful city, surrounded by waterways and gardens, with a water supply coming right to the houses of the city.

Historically, this was never an important city, living on the income generated by its location, situated at the crossroads of two transverse roads: Tarsus-Ankara and Konya-Sivas.

Aksaray was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1470 by the Ýshak Pasha, and many inhabitants of the city were relocated in Ýstanbul, recently captured by the Ottomans, where they were settled in a quarter of the city that came to be named Aksaray.