Malatya (Turkish pronunciation: [mɑɫɑtjɑ]; Armenian: Մալաթիա, romanized: Malat'ia; Syriac ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; Kurdish: Meletî;[2] Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a large city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province.

The site of ancient Melitene lies a few kilometres from the modern city in what is now the village of Arslantepe and near the district center of Battalgazi (Byzantine to Ottoman Empire).

The name was mentioned in the contemporary sources under several variations (e.g., Hittite: Malidiya[8] and possibly also Midduwa;[9] Akkadian: Meliddu;[5] Urartian: Meliṭeia[5]).

[11] Archeologists first began to excavate the site of Arslantepe in the 1930s, led by French archaeologist Louis Delaporte.

After periods of Achaemenid and Macedonian rule, Melid (Malatya) was part of the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia.

The camp attracted a civilian population and was probably granted city status by Trajan in the early 2nd century AD,[15] with the rank of Municipium.

[21] Those that still stand mostly date from the Arab period, perhaps of the 8th century, though retaining the layout of and some remnants from earlier building phases.

[22] The city was sacked by the Sassanids in 575, but it recovered and was made in 591 the capital of Armenia Prima by emperor Maurice.

[21] The town contained many shrines to martyrs, including that of the widely venerated local saint Polyeuctus.

[23] The city was captured by the Rashidun forces under Iyad ibn Ghanm, but the Byzantines quickly retook it until Mu'awiya I established a garrison in the town.

The Arab colony was abandoned at some point during the reign of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan until Hisham restored it, though it was destroyed by emperor Constantine V.[24] The Abbasid al-Mansur then established it as a substantial outpost from which raids deep into the Byzantine Empire were conducted.

[24] Throughout the Dark Ages, the area between Melitene and Caeserea became a no-man's land of independent lords and villages.

After successively accepting and renouncing vassal status, the city was finally taken in May 934, its Muslim inhabitants driven out or forced to convert, and replaced by Greek and Armenian settlers.

[26] The West Syrian diocese of Melitene has been established since the sixth century and was as well surrounded by other bishoprics belonging to nearby towns.

[32] Under Danishmend and Seljuk rule, Malatya became a centre of knowledge as many Persian and Arabic scholars took residence in the city.

[33] After being ruled by the Ilkhanids for around 50 years at the end of the 13th century, the Muslim population of the city invited the Mamluk Sultanate to Malatya in 1315.

The Eretna Dynasty gained sovereignty over the city for some time, but from 1338 onwards the Mamluks secured its control.

[36] In the aftermath, a Red Cross team sent to Malatya and led by Julian B. Hubbell concluded that 1,500 Armenian houses had been pillaged and 375 burned to the ground.

In 2014 Malatya became a metropolitan municipality in Turkey, alongside 12 other cities, by a Turkish governmental law that was passed in 2012.

Today the city is generally considered to be a notable trade and industrial hub, as well as a cultural centre point thanks to the İnönü University that was established on 28 January 1975.

[42] According to German geographers Georg Hassel and Adam Christian Gaspari, Malatya was composed of 1,200 to 1,500 houses in the early 19th century, inhabited by Turks, Armenians, and Greeks.

[43] William Harrison Ainsworth visited the city of Malatya in 1837, noting a population of 8,000 Muslims, chiefly Turks, and 3,000 Armenians.

[51] Köfte (meatballs) are used in many meals from kebabs (meat broiled or roasted in small pieces) to desserts.

Kağıt kebabı is a local specialty – a dish made of lamb and vegetables broiled in a wrapper, usually oily paper.

By its relative advance in industrial growth, Malatya is a pole of attraction for its surrounding regions, in commercial and inward immigration.

The bus terminal is 5 km west of the city center; there are regular intercity services to and from Ankara, Istanbul and Gaziantep.

The railway station is 3 km west of the city center, and daily express trains run to Elazığ, Diyarbakır, Istanbul and Ankara.

These flights are especially from German cities to Malatya, and most of the passengers are Turkish citizens or their descendants who are living and working in Germany.