Trabzon
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| Image:Flag of Turkey.svgTrabzon, Turkey | |
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| Hagia Sophia in Trabzon | |
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| Location in Turkey | |
| Overview | |
| Province | Trabzon |
| Total Population | 1.085.901 [1] (2006) |
| Area | 4.685 km² km² |
| Population density | 231.7 inh./km² |
| Elevation | 0 m |
| Coordinates | NA |
| Postal code | 61xxx |
| Area code | (+90) 462 |
| Licence plate code | 61 |
Trabzon, formerly known as Trebizond (Modern Greek: Τραπεζούντα, Trapezoúnta; Ancient Greek: Τραπεζοῦς, Trapezoûs), is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. It lies astride the road from Istanbul to Iran and was an important meeting point for international trade. Trabzon formed the basis for several empires over its history, including one of the same name. The population of the city is 214,949 (2000 census).
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[edit] History
[edit] Ancient and Medieval
Originally, it was founded as Trapezus (Τραπεζοῦς) by traders from Miletus (traditionally in 756 BCE), the city was one of a number (about ten) of Milesian emporia, or trading colonies along the shores of the Black Sea. Others include Sinope, Abydos and Cyzicus (in the Dardanelles). Like most Greek colonies, the city was a small enclave of Greek life, and not an empire unto its own, in the later European sense of the word. When Xenophon and the "ten thousand" Greek mercenaries fighting their way out of Persia reached Trapezus, it was the first Greek city they had reached (Xenophon, Anabasis, 5.5.10).
The city was added to the kingdom of Pontus by Mithridates VI Eupator and it became home port for the Pontic fleet.
When the kingdom was annexed to the Roman province of Galatia in 64-65 CE, the fleet simply passed to new commanders, becoming the Classis Pontica. Trapezus gained importance under Roman rule in the 1st century CE because from its roadstead a road over the Zigana Pass led to the Armenian frontier or the upper Euphrates valley. New roads were constructed from Persia and Mesopotamia under the rule of Vespasian, and Hadrian commissioned improvements to give the city a more structured harbor. A mithraeum now serves as a crypt for the church of Panaghia Theoskepastos in nearby Kizlara, east of the citadel and south of the modern harbor. The city was pillaged by the Goths in 258, and, although it was afterwards re-built, Trapezus did not recover until the trade route regained importance in the 8th to 10th centuries.
After the Fourth Crusade in 1204, a Byzantine successor state was founded there with support of Queen Tamar of Georgia, the Empire of Trebizond, which ruled part of the Black Sea coast from Trabzon until 1461, when its ruler, David, surrendered to Mehmed II, ruler of the Ottoman Empire. Following this takeover Mehmed sent many Turkish settlers into the area, but the old ethnic Armenian, Greek and Abkhaz communities remained. During the late Ottoman period, the city had a great Christian influence in terms of culture, and a wealthy merchant class who created several Western consulates.
[edit] Modern era
Image:Trabzon 6.jpg Trabzon was captured during World War I by forces under the command of the Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaevich the younger. Following the Treaty of Sèvres and subsequent Treaty of Lausanne, Trabzon was once again a part of Turkey.
During World War II the shipment activities were limited because the Black Sea had become a battle field; the most important export products such as tobacco and hazelnut were of no value and so the living standards were affected badly.
As a result of general development of the country, there appeared vitality in the economic and commercial life of Trabzon and some important steps have been taken. The Coastal Highway, built according to up-to-date traffic standards, and the new harbour with its modern shipping conveniences have increased the commercial relations with Central Anatolia and the neighbourhood; consequently some industrial enterprises and workshops have started to come forth. This progress, however, has been slow in comparison with the western and the southwestern parts of the country.
Trabzon is famous throughout Turkey for its anchovies, which are the main meal in many restaurants in the city. Major exports from Trabzon are hazelnuts and tea.
The city still has a sizable community of Greek-speaking Muslims, most of whom are originally from the vicinities of Tonya and Of. However, the Pontic Greek language (known as Ποντιακά) is spoken mostly by the older generations.<ref>Trabzon Greek: A language without a tongue - by Ömer Asan</ref>
Trabzon is also famous for its sports club Trabzonspor Kulübü, which includes the only Turkish football club outside of İstanbul to have been champion of the Turkish Super League.
[edit] Geography and climate
Image:Trabzon 17.jpg Image:Trabzon 22.jpg The city has a total area of 4.685 km² and It is bordered by the cities of Rize, Giresun and Gümüşhane. The total area is 22,4% plateaux and 77,6% hills.
[edit] Rivers
The Değirmendere (former Piksidis), Yanbolu, Fol, Karadere, Koha, Sürmene (former Manahos), Solaklı, Baltacı and İyidere (former Kalopotamos)
[edit] Lakes
Çakırgöl, Uzungöl, Serra Gölü
[edit] Climate
Trabzon has a typical Black Sea climate, with rain the year round and temperatures reaching up to around 27°C in the summer. Winters are cool and damp, and the lowest temperature is around 5°C in January. The water temperature fluctuates between 10° - 20°C throughout the year.
[edit] People
Greek has been spoken in the region since early antiquity. The local dialect has developed along its own lines and is today partly intelligible to speakers of Standard Greek. It was spoken in Turkey mainly by a Greek Orthodox population up until the population exchange in large parts of the coastal region of the Eastern Black Sea.
The Chepnis, an Oghuz tribe that played an important role in the history of the Eastern Black Sea area in the 13th and 14th centuries, live in the Şalpazarı (Ağasar valley) region of the Trabzon Province.<ref> Bernt Brendemoen. The Turkish Dialects of Trabzon. University of Oslo. 2002 p. 18]</ref>
The presence of Armenian Christians in Trabzon has been considerably less significant than that of the Greek Orthodox. In the tax registers from 1515 studied by Gökbilgin<ref> M. Tayyip Gökbilgin. XVI.yüzyıl başlarında Trabzon livası ve Doğu Karadeniz Bölgesi. 1962. Türk Tarih Kurumu. p. 297 </ref>, it appears there were 15 Armenian households (in contrast to 774 Greek and 179 Muslim households) in the city of Trabzon.
[edit] Origin of the Pontic Turks and Greeks
Image:Trabzon 19.jpg It is most likely that the majority of the population of Trabzon and Rize (and of course other Greek colonies as well) —except up to the time of the Chepni Turk immigration waves—consisted of indigenous Caucasian tribes (probably Colchians) who had been partly Hellenized religiously and linguistically.<ref> Michael Meeker. The Black Sea Turks: some aspects of their ethnic and cultural background. 1971. International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 2: 318-345</ref> Michael Meeker, for example, stresses the cultural resemblances (e.g. in village structure, house types, and pastoral techniques) between the Eastern Black Sea coast and the areas in the Caucasus proper.<ref>Meeker, 1971: p. 326 "As the mentioned, the villages along the Black Sea coast from Ordu to Artvin are composed of many hamlets, each dominating a hilltop or mountain side on which its own crops are separetly planted. This type of settlemet pattern is in sharp contrast with the typical nucleated anatolian village, but its charesterictic of many rural settlements of the Western Caucasus notably those of Abkhaz, Circassians, Georgians, Mingrelians and Ossetes..." For similar ideas See: Karl Koch, Reise duch Russland nach dem Kaukasis chen Istmus in den Jahren, 1836. vol1. p. 378; W.E.D. Allen, A History of the Georgian People, London 1932. pp. 54-5; Özhan Öztürk, Karadeniz. 2005. p. 35, 757-68. For Lingusitical influence See: Brendomoen, Bernt. Laz influence on the Black Sea Turkish Dialects 1990 (Proceedings from 32. meeting oh the Permanent International Altaistic Conference) </ref> Very little has been written on the Turkification of the area. There are no historical records of any considerable Turkish-speaking groups in the area until the late 15th century, with the exception of the Chepnis. The original Greek (and in some regions Armenian) speakers imposed features from their original mother language into Turkish. Heath W. Lowry's<ref> Professor. Department of Near Eastern Studies. Princeton University</ref> great work about Ottoman tax books<ref> Trabzon Şehrinin İslamlaşması ve Türkleşmesi 1461 - 1583 ISBN 975-518-116-4 </ref> (Tahrir Defteri) with Halil İnalcık claims that most Turks of Trabzon city are of Greek origin.
[edit] Tourist attractions
Trabzon has a number of tourist attractions, some of them dating back to the times of the ancient empires that once existed in the region. In Trabzon itself, one can find a hub of shops, stalls and restaurants surrounding a square in the centre of the city, which includes a tea garden.
- Boztepe park is a small park and tea garden on the hills above Trabzon that has a panoramic view of nearly the entire city. The terrain in Trabzon is such that although the view is far above that of the buildings below, it is still close enough to be able to observe the flow of traffic and the people moving about in the city.
- The Hagia Sophia Museum (Turkish: Ayasofya Müzesi), Trabzon Castle and the Atatürk museum are all places that showcase the history of the city and its Byzantine and Ottoman heritage.
Within the Trabzon Province, the main attractions are the Sumela Monastery (Turkish: Sümela Manastırı) and Uzungöl. The monastery is built on the side of a very steep mountain overlooking the green forests below and is about 50km south of the city. Uzungöl is famous for the natural beauty of the area and the amazing scenery.
Other important sites of interest are:
Kaymaklı (Amenapırgiç Armenian church) monastery, Kızlar (Panagia Theoskepastos) monastery, Gregorios Peristera (Hızır İlyas) monastery, Kızlar (Panagia Kerameste) monastery, Vazelon monastery, Hagaios Savas (Maşatlık) Cave Churches, Hagia Anna (Little Ayvasıl), Sotha (St. John), Hagios Theodoros, Hagios Konstantinos, Hagios Khristophoras, Hagios Kiryaki, Santa Maria, Hagios Mikhail and Panagia Tzita churches, Fatih (Panagia Khrysokephalos Church), Yeni Cuma (Hagios Eugenios), Nakip (Hagios Andreas Church), Hüsnü Köktuğ (Hagios Eleutherios), İskender Pasha, Semerciler and Çarşı mosques, Gülbahar Hatun Mosque and mausoleum.
[edit] Images from Trabzon
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[edit] Sister cities
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites eds. Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister: "Trapezus"
- Özhan Öztürk (2005). Karadeniz (Black Sea): Ansiklopedik Sözlük. 2 Cilt. Heyamola Yayıncılık. İstanbul. ISBN 975-6121-00-9
[edit] External links
- Hundreds of HQ Pictures of the city and surroundings
- Governorship of Trabzon
- Pictures of the city
- Trabzon Weather Forecast Information
- City guide
- Karadeniz Technical University
- Armenian history and presence in Trebizond
- Complete travel guide and useful travel tips for Trabzon
| Image:Trabzon Turkey Provinces locator.gif | Districts of Trabzon | Image:Flag of Turkey.svg |
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Trabzon | Akçaabat | Araklı | Arsin | Beşikdüzü | Çarşıbaşı | Çaykara | Dernekpazarı | Düzköy | Hayrat | Köprübaşı | Maçka | Of | Sürmene | Şalpazarı | Tonya | Vakfıkebir | Yomra | ||
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ca:Trebisonda de:Trabzon el:Τραπεζούντα es:Trebisonda fr:Trabzon id:Trabzon it:Trebisonda he:טרבזון ka:ტრაბზონი nl:Trabzon ja:トラブゾン pt:Trebizonda sv:Trabzon tr:Trabzon
