Of (, possibly from grc, Ὄφιούς ''Ophious'') is a town and district of

Trabzon Province Trabzon Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Located in a strategically important region, Trabzon is one of the oldest trade port cities in Anatolia. Neighbouring provinces are Giresun to the west, Gümüşhane to the ...

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, Roma ...

region of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It is located in the eastern part of

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the Bl ...

and is an important historical district of the province. The mayor is Salim Salih Sarıalioğlu ( AKP).

Etymology and settlement origins

There are several stories about the origins of Of's name. Of was called Ofis in 1910 by

Pontic Greek Pontic Greek ( pnt, Ποντιακόν λαλίαν, or ; el, Ποντιακή διάλεκτος, ; tr, Rumca) is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, ...

speaking inhabitants. According to another view it means "village" or "settlement" in the

Laz language The Laz language (; ka, ლაზური ენა/ჭანური ენა, tr; tr, Lazca, tr) is a Kartvelian language spoken by the Laz people on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea. In 2007, it was estimated that there were arou ...

(Laz: ''ოფუტე/oput'e''), as the old name of the town is mentioned as "Opiunte" on the

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin Language, Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the ''cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The m ...

. By another version of events, the city got its name from a nearby river described by

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

as ''Ophis'', a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word for "snake". The Ophius stream - which snakes (zigzags) its way from around 3300 meters altitude in the Pontic Mountains towards the coastal town of Of - was renamed as "Solaklı" during the 1950s Turkification process which is a common policy in whole of Turkey. Mixed farming settlements of Pontic Greeks were established along most bends of the river at least from the Middle Ages onwards, making it one of the most densely settled valley-systems on the southern coast of the Black Sea. The area has been inhabited by the native

Colchian In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the Colchians are generally thou ...

people during the ancient times. During most of its history the district and its hinterland were subjugated to nearby Trabzon city. The southern districts

Dernekpazarı Dernekpazarı is a district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey.The old name of the town was Kondu (or Kondualtı) and the current mayor of the town is Mehmet Aşık ( AKP). Dernekpazarı is part of the Of-valley system ('Solaklı ...

Çaykara Çaykara (Romeika: ''Kadahor'', ''Κατωχώρι'') is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. As of 2014, the District Mayor of Çaykara is Hanefi Tok ( AKP). Çaykara village lies in a V-shaped valley along th ...

and

Hayrat Hayrat is a town and district of Trabzon Province, located in the Black Sea region of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, tran ...

of Trabzon province and the western half of İkizdere district today part of Rize province were historically also part of the region of Of. A minority of Muslim

speakers, using a dialect called "Ophitic" (or ''Romeyka''), still live in the area.''Jason and the argot: land where Greek's ancient language survives''
''The Independent'', Monday, 3 January 2011 File:1794 J. B. B. D'Anville Map of Asia Minor in Antiquity (Turkey, Cyprus, Syria).jpg, A large and dramatic map of

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

in antiquity by J. B. Bourguignon d'Anville (1794)

Notable people

Ali Ağaoğlu Ali İbrahim Ağaoğlu (born 3 March 1954) is a Turkish real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re- lease of existing buildi ...

Businessman (1959) *

Erdoğan Bayraktar Erdoğan Bayraktar (born 10 October 1948 in Trabzon, Turkey) is a Turkish politician. He is the former Minister of Environment and Urban Planning of Turkey under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government and member of parliament for Tra ...

Politician, The ex Minister of Environment and Urban Planning of Turkey *

Fatih Çakıroğlu Fatih Çakıroğlu (born April 14, 1981, in Istanbul), is a Turkish European champion Turkish freestyle wrestler competing in the 125 kg division. Çakıroğlu graduated from the Ondokuz Mayıs University in Samsun with a degree in Physica ...

(1981) wrestling European champion *

Hasan Küçükakyüz Hasan Küçükakyüz (born November 11, 1957) is a retired four-star Turkish Armed Forces general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. ...

(1957) Commander of the Turkish Air Force * Fatih Öztürk (1983) Football player *

Mustafa Varank Mustafa Varank (pronounced ustafäh väränk 1 January 1976) is a Turkish politician, bureaucrat and academician who previously served as the Minister of Industry and Technology. In the 2023 Turkish parliamentary election he was elected to the ...

(1976) The Minister of Industry and Technology * Mehmet Yılmaz (1979) Football player

References

External links

District governor's official website
Populated places in Trabzon Province Fishing communities in Turkey Populated coastal places in Turkey Districts of Trabzon Province {{Trabzon-geo-stub

Etymology and settlement origins

Notable people

See also

References

External links