1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Izbarta

IZBARTA, or Sparta [anc. Baris], the chief town of the Hamid-abad sanjak of the Konia vilayet, in Asia Minor, well situated on the edge of a fertile plain at the foot of Aghlasun Dagh. It was once the capital of the Emirate of Hamid. It suffered severely from the earthquake of the 16th–17th of January 1889. It is a prosperous place with an enlightened Greek element in its population (hence the numerous families called “Spartali” in Levantine towns); and it is, in fact, the chief inland colony of Hellenism in Anatolia. Pop. 20,000 (Moslems 13,000, Christians 7000). The new Aidin railway extends from Dineir to Izbarta via Buldur.