Kelkit is a town and district of
Gümüşhane Province in the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
region of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
. According to the 2010 census, population of the district is 39,547 of which 13,784 live in the town of Kelkit.
[Statistical Institute](_blank)
/ref> The district covers an area of , and the town lies at an elevation of .
The name "Kelkit" comes from the Kelkit River
The Kelkit River ( tr, Kelkit Irmağı or ''Kelkit Çayı''), is a river in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the longest tributary of the Yeşilırmak. Its name derives from the Armenian ''Gayl get'' ( hy, Գայլ գետ 'wolf river', Kayl ...
, a major tributary of the Yeşil River Yeşil (green in turkish) may refer to:
* Mahmut Yıldırım (born 1953), Turkish contract killer also known as "Yeşil"
* Samed Yeşil
Samed Yeşil (, born 25 May 1994) is a German professional footballer who plays as a striker for Oberliga ...
, which flows into the Black Sea. Kelkit's population is around 20,000 and it has 105 villages. People are either farmers or small business owners. According to the legend, Aysu is also from here.
Archaeology
In November 2017, archaeologists announced the discovery of a 1400 year-old Byzantine sarcophagus in the antique village of Sadak in Satala. According to researchers, there were Greek inscriptions
The Greek-language inscriptions and epigraphy are a major source for understanding of the society, language and history of ancient Greece and other Greek-speaking or Greek-controlled areas. Greek inscriptions may occur on stone slabs, pottery ost ...
on the cover saying "Blessed Kandes sleeps here". According to Gümüşhane Museum Director Gamze Demir, the broken part of the sarcophagus, which is considered to be 2.5 meters long is believed to be under the ground.
Notes
References
*
External links
Forum
District governor's official website
District municipality's official website
District directorate of agriculture's official website
Road map of Kelkit district
Populated places in Gümüşhane Province
Districts of Gümüşhane Province
Kurdish settlements in Turkey
{{Gümüşhane-geo-stub