The town and the lake were originally called Eğridir, a Turkish pronunciation of the town's old Greek name Akrotiri. However, Eğiridir means 'It is bent' or not honest in Turkish so the name was changed to Eğirdir, which has no meanign really!
It is thought that the town was founded by the Hittites, before coming under the control of Phrygia around 1200 BC, and had been taken into the Lydian kingdom and then the Persian kingdom before coming under control of Alexander the Great.
The Romans whew the town by the name of Prostanna, a name that lives on the ancient settlement at the saddle of Mt Sivri, the name was changed to Akrotiri, meaning Peninsula in Greek during the Byzantine age. The town was conquered by the Seljuk Turks in 1081 AD after which time the fine mosque and madrassa were built, however, most of the population was Greek Orthodox until the 1920s' exchange of population. There are several churches left around the town and on the green island. On the Green island now are many small hotels and lakeside restaurants where you can taste the locally caught fish.
Egirdir is also home to the Turkish Army's greatly respected Mountain Commando Regiment who train in the nearby mountains
The Trek to Mt Sivri(1700m) starts from nearby Akpinar Village. Akpinar means 'White Spring' after the fine water source here
The walk up to Prostanna on the saddle before the summit is mostly on farm tracks, and the final approach to the summit is steep and loose in places.
