Trabzon Province ( tr, ) is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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 ...

on 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 ...

coast. Located in a strategically important region, Trabzon is one of the oldest

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

cities in

Anatolia 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 ...

. Neighbouring provinces are

Giresun Giresun (), formerly Cerasus (Ancient Greek: Κερασοῦς, Greek: Κερασούντα), is the provincial capital of Giresun Province in the Black Sea Region of northeastern Turkey, about west of the city of Trabzon. Etymology Giresun wa ...

to the west,

Gümüşhane Gümüşhane () is a city and the capital district of Gümüşhane Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The city lies along the Harşit River, at an elevation of , about southwest of Trabzon. According to the 2010 census, population of G ...

to the southwest,

Bayburt Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River and is the provincial capital of Bayburt Province. According to the 2021 census the population is determined as around 82,274. Bayburt was once an important center on the ancient ...

to the southeast and

Rize Rize (Greek language, Greek: ρίζα, Laz language, Laz: რიზინი, Georgian language, Georgian: რიზე, , Ottoman Turkish: ريزه) is the capital city of Rize Province in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Rize ...

to the east. İsmail Ustaoğlu was appointed the Governor of the province in October 2018. The capital of the province is

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 ...

Districts

Trabzon province is divided into 18

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

: *

(Central district, after 2014 it will be named Ortahisar) Districts along the 114 km coastline (from west to east):

Beşikdüzü Beşikdüzü is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The mayor is Ramis Uzun ( CHP). Name The name ''Beşikdüzü'' is composed of two Turkish words, namely ''beşik'', "a cradle" and ''düzü'', "a plain". T ...

Vakfıkebir Vakfıkebir is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea Region, Turkey, Black Sea region of Turkey. The mayor is Muhammet Balta (Justice and Development Party (Turkey), AKP). Cuisine of Vakfıkebir *Pane di Altamura, Vakfıkebir br ...

Çarşıbaşı Çarşıbaşı ( Ottoman Turkish: ''İskefiye'') is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The mayor is Mümin Nuhoğlu ( MHP). Çarşıbaşı is a town and district in the East Black Sea region in Turkey, 34 km ...

Akçaabat Akçaabat is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea Region, Turkey, Black Sea region of Turkey. It is located to the west of the city of Trabzon. It covers an area of and the elevation is . The town has an estimated population o ...

Yomra Yomra (Greek: Γέμουρα) is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The mayor is Mustafa Bıyık (Good Party The Good Party ( Turkish: ''İyi Parti'') is a nationalist, national conservative, Kemalist, and ...

Arsin Arsin is a coastal town and a district of Trabzon 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 ...

Araklı Araklı (from Greek "Ηράκλεια" - ''Erakleia'') is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The mayor is Recep Çebi ( AKP). Name Arakli is believed to be derived from "the castle in the middle" in turkish ' ...

Sürmene Sürmene (Greek: Σούρμενα, ''Sourmena''; ota, ﺳﻮرﻣﻨﻪ, romanized as ''Sürmena e') is a small town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. In ancient times the town of Hyssus or Hyssos ( grc, Υσσ� ...

and Of.
Districts inland: Tonya,

Düzköy Düzköy (formerly Haçka) is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country lo ...

Şalpazarı Şalpazarı is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The population is around 12,000 including the surrounding villages. The mayor is Refik Kurukız ( MHP). Şalpazarı is a home to sizeable Chepni Turkmen p ...

Maçka Maçka ( el, Ματζούκα, Matzoúka, the "club"; Laz language, Laz: მაჩხა ''Maçxa'') is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea Region, Turkey, Black Sea region of Turkey. The name derives from the medieval Greek ...

, Köprübaşı,

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Beşikdüzü and Şalpazarı gained district status in 1988, Çarşıbaşı, Düzköy, Köprübaşı, Dernekpazarı and Hayrat in 1990.

History

Remarkably attractive throughout its history,

was the subject of hundreds of

travel books The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern period ...

by western travellers, some of whom had named it "city of

tale Tale may refer to: * Narrative, or story, a report of real or imaginary connected events * TAL effector (TALE), a type of DNA binding protein * Tale, Albania, a resort town * Tale, Iran, a village * Tale, Maharashtra, a village in Ratnagiri distri ...

in the East." The capital city

was founded, as Trapezus, by Greek colonists from Sinope, modern

Sinop, Turkey Sinop, historically known as Sinope (; gr, Σινώπη, Sinōpē), is a city on the isthmus of İnce Burun (İnceburun, Cape Ince), near Cape Sinope (Sinop Burnu, Boztepe Cape, Boztepe Burnu) which is situated on the northernmost edge of the ...

. Starting from the 9th century BC, the city had also been mentioned by historians such as Homeros,

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

os. The first written source regarding Trabzon is

Anabasis Anabasis (from Greek ''ana'' = "upward", ''bainein'' = "to step or march") is an expedition from a coastline into the interior of a country. Anabase and Anabasis may also refer to: History * ''Anabasis Alexandri'' (''Anabasis of Alexander''), a ...

, authored by

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...

. An important

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

centre, it was the capital of the

Empire of Trebizond The Empire of Trebizond, or Trapezuntine Empire, was a monarchy and one of three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Despotate of the Morea and the Principality of Theodoro, that flourished during the 13th through to t ...

from 1204 to 1461. Trabzon was subsequently made part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Mehmet the Conqueror Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...

. After the region was conquered in 1461, the Fatih Medrese (1462), Hatuniye Medrese (1515), İskender Pasha Medrese (1529) and

Hamza Pasha Medrese Hamza ( ar, همزة ') () is a letter in the Arabic alphabet, representing the glottal stop . Hamza is not one of the 28 "full" letters and owes its existence to historical inconsistencies in the orthography, standard writing system. It is de ...

(1543) were established as important

medreses Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

(educational centers; some of them within

külliye A külliye ( ota, كلية) is a complex of buildings associated with Turkish architecture centered on a mosque and managed within a single institution, often based on a waqf (charitable foundation) and composed of a madrasa, a Dar al-Shifa ("c ...

complexes) of the period. It was initially a ''

sanjak Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian language, Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησι� ...

'' before gaining the status of ''

eyalet Eyalets ( Ottoman Turkish: ایالت, , English: State), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were a primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government ...

'', and finally became a ''

vilayet A vilayet ( ota, , "province"), also known by #Names, various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement init ...

'' in 1868. The province was a site of major fighting between Ottoman and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

forces during the

Caucasus Campaign The Caucasus campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, later including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, the German Empire, the Central Caspian Dicta ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, which resulted in the capture of the city of Trabzon by the Russian army under command of Grand Duke Nicholas and

Nikolai Yudenich Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich ( – 5 October 1933) was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in Northwestern Russia during the Civil War. Biography Early life Yuden ...

in April 1916. The province was restored to Turkish control in early 1918 following Russia's exit from World War I with the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace, separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russian SFSR, Russia and the Central Powers (German Empire, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of ...

In Turkey

In September 1935 the third Inspectorate General (''Umumi Müfettişlik,'' UM) was created. Its creation was based on the Law 1164 from June 1927, which was passed in order to Turkefy the population. The Trabzon province was included in this area. The third UM span over the provinces of

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...

Artvin Artvin (Laz language, Laz and ; hy, Արտուին, translit=Artuin) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in northeastern Turkey about inland from the Black Sea. It is located on a hill overlooking the Çoruh, Çoruh River near the Deriner Dam ...

, Trabzon,

Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...

Erzincan Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The ...

and

Ağrı Ağrı ( ku, Agirî; ) is the capital of Ağrı Province in eastern Turkey, near the border with Iran. Formerly known as Karaköse ( ku, Qerekose) from the early Turkish republican period until 1946, and before that as Karakilise ( ota, قره‌� ...

. It was governed by an Inspector General seated in the city of

. The Inspectorate General was dissolved in 1952 during the Government of the Democrat Party.

Archaeology

In April 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of

and Byzantine period archeological remains in the Ortahisar district. The southern part of the wicker columns and fortifications of the Roman emperor Hadrian's period, trench walls of

Byzantine period The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

dating back to 1460 have been discovered. Remains of Roman tiles and pottery were also discovered during the excavations. According to the Trabzon City Municipality, the excavation area is planned to be turned into an

open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

Attractions

* Hagia Sophia of Trabzon * Trabzon Castle *

Kalepark Kalepark (originally called ''Leonkastron''; and later ''Güzelhisar'', meaning "Beautiful Castle" in Turkish) was procured and further fortified by Genoese merchants as a medieval fortress on the east side of Trabzon, Turkey. The fortress was ...

Sümela Monastery Sumela Monastery ( el, Μονή Παναγίας Σουμελά, ''Moní Panagías Soumelá''; tr, Sümela Manastırı, lzz, სუმელა) is a Greek Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Theotokos located at ''Karadağ'' (Greek: ''So ...

Kuştul Monastery Kuştul Monastery ( tr, Kuştul Manastırı, Greek: ) was a Greek Orthodox monastery, located near Şimşirli village, Maçka district, Trabzon Province, Turkey. Founded in 752 CE at 30 km southeast of Trabzon, it underwent restoration after ...

Kaymaklı Monastery Kaymaklı Monastery ( hye: Ամենափրկիչ Վանք ''Amenaprgič Vank'', meaning Monastery of the All-Saviour; tr, Kaymaklı Manastırı, Amenapırgiç Manastırı) is a ruined Armenian Apostolic monastery near Trabzon, Turkey. The mona ...

Vazelon Monastery Vazelon Monastery ( el, Μονή Βαζελώνος, Moni Vazelonos) is a ruin located in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It was built in 270 and is south of Trabzon. Justinian I, a ruler of the Byzantine Empire, ordered the monastery to be rep ...

* Kızlar Monastery *

Fatih Mosque The large Fatih Mosque ( tr, Fatih Camii, "Conqueror's Mosque" in English) is an Ottoman mosque off Fevzi Paşa Caddesi in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. The original mosque was constructed between 1463 and 1470 on the site of the Ch ...

* Yeni Cuma Mosque *

Nakip Mosque The Molla Nakip Mosque is a mosque in Pazarkapi district of Trabzon, Turkey. History It was built in the 10th or 11th century, during Byzantine times as a church, and received its present name and function after the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman conques ...

* İskender Pasha Mosque * Lake Uzungöl *

Pontic Mountains The Pontic Mountains or Pontic Alps (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Kuzey Anadolu Dağları'', meaning North Anatolian Mountains) form a mountain range in northern Anatolia, Turkey. They are also known as the ''Parhar Mountains'' in the local Turki ...

Demographics

*2000 - 979,081 *1997 - 858,687 *1990 - 795,849 *1985 - 786,194 *1980 - 731,045 *1975 - 719,008 *1970 - 659,120 *1965 - 595,782 *1960 - 532,999 *1955 - 462,249 *1950 - 420,279 *1945 - 395,733 *1940 - 390,733 *1935 - 360,679 *1927 - 290,303

References

External links

Governorate of Trabzon

Municipality of Trabzon

Trabzonspor S.K.

Culture of the Black Sea Region

{{Authority control