Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the

Çoruh River The Chorokh ( ka, ჭოროხი ''Ch'orokhi'' , , ''Chorokh'', , , ''Akampsis'') is a river that rises in the Mescit Mountains in north-eastern Turkey, flows through the cities of Bayburt, İspir, Yusufeli, and Artvin, along the Kelkit Rive ...

. It is the seat of

Bayburt Province Bayburt Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province of Turkey. Located in the Northeast Anatolia Region (statistical), Northeast Anatolia region of the country, the capital city is Bayburt. Its area is 3,746 km2, and its population is 84,24 ...

and

Bayburt District Bayburt District (also: ''Merkez'', meaning "central") is a district of Bayburt Province of Turkey. Its seat is the city Bayburt.İl Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 30 January 2023. Its population is 48,036 (2021). Bayburt was once an important center on the ancient

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

. It was visited by

Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...

in the 13th century, and also by

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

in the 16th century. Remains of its medieval

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

still exist. There are several historical mosques,

Turkish bath A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...

s, and tombs in the city. There are also ancient historical sites such as the Çatalçeşme Underground Complex and natural wonders like the Sirakayalar Waterfall in the other parts of the province.

Name and etymology

The name of the town was formerly written in

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

as بايبورد (''Bayburd'') and in English as Baiburt. It was known under a variety of names during the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

period;

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...

naming the city ''Baiberdon'', meanwhile

Kedrenos George Kedrenos, Cedrenus or Cedrinos (, fl. 11th century) was a Byzantine Greek historian. In the 1050s he compiled ''Synopsis historion'' (also known as ''A concise history of the world''), which spanned the time from the biblical account of cre ...

calling it ''Paiperte''. The name derives from the medieval

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

''Baydbert'' ().https://www.vehi.net/istoriya/armenia/khorenaci/02.html; The “History of Armenia” by Movses Khorenatsi, Yerevan, 1990 (in Russian). In Movses of Khoren's ''History of Armenia'' the town is being named as Բայբերդ (''Paypert''). Movses asserts that the city's ancient name was Smpadapert, in reference to the Smbat I, founder of the

Bagratuni dynasty The Bagratuni or Bagratid dynasty (, ) was an Armenian royal dynasty which ruled the medieval Kingdom of Armenia from until 1045. Originating as vassals of the Kingdom of Armenia of antiquity, they rose to become the most prominent Armenian n ...

Dede Korkut The ''Book of Dede Korkut'' or ''Book of Korkut Ata'' (, ; ; ) is the most famous among the dastans or epic stories of the Oghuz Turks. The stories carry morals and values significant to the social lifestyle of the nomadic Turkic peoples and t ...

mentions the city in his

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

a couple of times as بايبورد (''Bayburd''). It is thought that ''Baydbert'' consists of two words namely ''Bayd'' and ''Bert''. The first one has been discussed so much but true etymon is not clear yet. However, the second one is most probably an Armenian loanword ''bert'' (բերդ) "fortress".

History

Bayburt was a part of

Hayasa-Azzi Hayasa-Azzi or Azzi-Hayasa (, ) was a Late Bronze Age confederation in the Armenian Highlands and/or Pontic region of Asia Minor. The Hayasa-Azzi confederation was in conflict with the Hittite Empire in the 14th century BC, leading up to the ...

, then was subsequently settled or conquered by the

Cimmerians The Cimmerians were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into W ...

in the the

Medes The Medes were an Iron Age Iranian peoples, Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media (region), Media between western Iran, western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, they occupied the m ...

in the then the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larg ...

Lesser Armenia Lesser Armenia (; ; ), also known as Armenia Minor and Armenia Inferior, comprised the Armenian-populated regions primarily to the west and northwest of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia (also known as Kingdom of Greater Armenia), on the western sid ...

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

, Greater Armenia,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, the

s, the Bagratid Armenian Kingdom, the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

, the

Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (, ; ) was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two trib ...

Safavid Persia The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the beg ...

, and then the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

. The town was the site of an

fortress in the 1st century and may have been the Baiberdon fortified by the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

. It was a stronghold of the

Genovese Genovese is an Italian surname meaning, properly, someone from Genoa. Its Italian plural form '' Genovesi'' has also developed into a surname. People * Alfred Genovese (1931–2011), American oboist * Alfredo Genovese (born 1964), Argentine arti ...

in the late Middle Ages and prospered in the late 13th and early 14th century because of the commerce between Trebizond and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. It contained a mint under the

Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of th ...

and

Ilkhanids The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

. From c. 1243 to 1266, Bayburt was under brief control of the Georgian princes of Samtskhe. A Christian church within the Bayburt Castle was built in the 13th century under the Trapezuntine or Georgian influence. Bayburt and the surrounding areas are considered to be one of the earliest Turkish settlements in Anatolia. Under Ottoman rule, the town was the center of the Bayburt

Sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

in Erzurum Eyalet. When

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, 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. It is the site of an ...

was devastated in the early 16th century, Bayburt served for a time as the ''de facto'' capital of the province. The area was raided by the

Safavids The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

in 1553. Bayburt was captured by a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

army under General Paskevich and its fortifications thoroughly demolished in 1829. It was the furthest westward reach of the Russians during that campaign. The British traveller and geologist William Hamilton commented on the ruins in the 1840s,. though the population grew to 6000 by the 1870s. The

bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

, however, remained poor and the town long lacked industry. On the eve of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the population of 10,000 was mostly Turkish with some

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

. According to the ''Qamus al-A'lam'' (Qāmūsu'l-aˁlām/قاموس الأعلام, “Dictionary of the World”) of Shemseddin Sami, Sanjak of Bayburt, comprising four

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

s called Ispir,

Şiran Şiran () is a town in Gümüşhane Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is the seat of Şiran District.

Kelkit Kelkit ( is a town in Gümüşhane Province in the Black Sea Region, Black Sea region of Turkey. It is the seat of Kelkit District.Bayburt Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River. It is the seat of Bayburt Province and Bayburt District.nahiyes A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

. The sanjak had a population of 124.019 people. 108.373 people of the population was Turkish and Muslim, and the rest of the population was Christian, predominantly Armenian. Inside the Sanjak of Bayburt there were said to be 292

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

and

masjid A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were simple p ...

, 176

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

h, 87 church and monastery, 2 middle school (''rushdiye''), 108 primary school (''sıbyan mektebi'').

Geography

Bayburt straddles the

Çoruh The Chorokh ( ka, ჭოროხი ''Ch'orokhi'' , , ''Chorokh'', , , ''Akampsis'') is a river that rises in the Mescit Mountains in north-eastern Turkey, flows through the cities of Bayburt, İspir, Yusufeli, and Artvin, along the Kelkit-� ...

amid an open and fertile

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

on the route between

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

and

Climate

Bayburt has a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

with warm summers and cold winters. Precipitation is fairly frequent most of the year, with a peak in spring. The city gets frequent, but not necessarily heavy snow, the highest snow depth recorded was 110 cm (43.3 inches) in March 1976. Highest recorded temperature: on 15 August 2019
Lowest recorded temperature: on 20 January 1972

Sights

Nature

Bayburt has several parks and open spaces like ''Aslan dağı Ormanı '' (Lion Mount Forest ) "Gençlik Parkı" (Youth Park), "Şehit Nusret Bahçesi" (Martyr Nusret Gardens), and "Yenişehir Parkı" meaning "New City Park". The city has of nursery areas, where young plants are raised for the forests of Bayburt. Also there are two caves that visitors can see the interesting natural shapes of the stones. These caves are,
Çimağıl Cave
and
Helva Village Ice Cave
.

Castle

Bayburt Castle stands on the steep rocks north of Bayburt. It was held by the

in the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries. It was completely rebuilt by the Saltukid ruler Mugis-al-Din Tugrul Sah between 1200 and 1230, as attested by an inscription in the walls of the castle. The massive size of its walls and the quality of its masonry place it amongst the finest of all the castles in Anatolia but for its destruction by the Russians during the early nineteenth century. Rebuilding was done during the Ottoman period. The castle was inhabited till the destruction of 1829.

Aydıntepe Underground City

Located from Bayburt, the

Aydıntepe underground City Aydıntepe is a small town in Bayburt Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is the seat of Aydıntepe District Aydıntepe District is a district of Bayburt Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town Aydıntepe.Dede Korkut The ''Book of Dede Korkut'' or ''Book of Korkut Ata'' (, ; ; ) is the most famous among the dastans or epic stories of the Oghuz Turks. The stories carry morals and values significant to the social lifestyle of the nomadic Turkic peoples and t ...

is approximately away from Bayburt, and is located in Masat village. It is located in the middle of village's graveyard, has been hosting plenty of people from many countries including Turkic countries because of Dede Korkut Culture and Art Festival since 1995, and it is held every July. The dome, also known as Ali Baba and Korkut Ata, was restored in 1994, and it was released to the public. It has gained importance after has been included in the

Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.Compare: This list is published by the Intergover ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in November 2018.

Baksı Museum

The

Baksı Museum Baksı Museum is a museum located in Bayburt, Turkey. “Baksı” literally means “healer, helper, protector” in Turkic languages. The museum offers contemporary art and traditional handcrafts. The basic aim of the foundation is, as quoted b ...

stands near the Black Sea, from Bayburt on a hilltop overlooking the Çoruh Valley. Rising in what used to be called Baksı and is now the village of Bayraktar, this unusual museum offers contemporary art and traditional handicrafts side by side under one roof.

Sport

There is a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium in the city and many private astroturfed sites. The local football club in Bayburt is

Bayburt Özel İdarespor Bayburt Özel İdarespor is a Turkish professional football club based in Bayburt. The team currently competes in the TFF Second League after being promoted following the 2018–19 season. The club was promoted to the TFF Third League after 2013� ...

, which currently competes in the

TFF Second League The TFF 2. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 2. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the third level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season with the name of ''Turkish Second League Category B'' as a continu ...

. Şalcilarspor played in the Third League between 1986 and 1988. There are many indoor swimming pools in Bayburt, among them the semi-olympic swimming pool is the most notable one. It is located in the city center opposite of the Yenişehir Park. The pool water is kept at the same temperature in summer and winter so that the users can enjoy the pool in the best possible way. The city also hosts winter sport activities, such as skiing. Ski resorts are located away from the city center.

Education

Bayburt University is located roughly one kilometer away from the center of the city, the university has several faculties such as Engineering, Arts and Sciences, and Administrative Sciences. The university also contains a guest house (Turkish: ''konukevi''). There are several vocational schools.

Transportation

Bayburt Bus Terminal, located in the south of the city, is the main transportation hub of Bayburt.

Notable people

* Bayburtlu Kara Ibrahim Pasha Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, 1683 to 1685. * Hovhannes XI (Çamaşırciyan),

Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

between 1800 and 1801 * İrşadi Baba (1879-1958), folk poet. * Krikor Amirian (1888–1964), an Armenian Revolutionary *

Namık Kemal Zeybek Namık Kemal Zeybek (born 1944) is a Turkish politician and was leader of the Democratic Party (2011 - 2012). A former civil servant and district governor, he was government minister in different cabinets. He was born 1944 in the village of Ki ...

(born 1944), a Turkish politician *

Vasip Şahin Vasip Şahin (born 1964) is a Turkish civil servant. Currently, he serves as the Governor of Ankara, Governor of Ankara Province. Life He was born in Bayburt in 1964. He completed his primary, secondary and high school education in Erzincan. In ...

(born 1964), a Turkish civil servant, the Governor of Ankara Province. * Naci Ağbal (born 1968), a Turkish politician *

Suat Türker Suat Türker (10 March 1976 – 12 February 2023) was a Turkish-German professional footballer who played as a striker. Career Born in Bayburt, Turkey, Türker began his professional career with Istanbulspor, appearing in 38 Süper Lig matche ...

(1976–2023), a Turkish-German footballer *

Serdar Orçin Serdar Orçin (born 21 January 1976) is a Turkish actor. He has appeared in more than thirty films since 1999. Theatre * ''Kadı'' (Ülkü Tamer) Istanbul State Theatre, 1996 * '' Fil Hamdi'' (Aziz Nesin) MSM Oyuncuları, 1997 * '' They Shoo ...

(born 1976), a Turkish actor *

Hakan Çalhanoğlu Hakan Çalhanoğlu (, born 8 February 1994) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Inter Milan and captains the Turkey national team. Çalhanoğlu began his career at German second division club Karlsruher ...

(born 1994), a Turkish footballer

Twin cities

Bayburt is twinned with: