Gümüşhane () is a city in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Gümüşhane Province and Gümüşhane District.İl Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023. Its population is 39,214 (2022). The city lies along the Harşit River, about southwest of Trabzon. The city lies at an elevation of .

History

It is suggested that the ancient Thia ( in

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

, a settlement of Roman, Late Roman and

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 ...

periods) was located west of modern Gümüşhane, in modern Beşkilise. In the Byzantine period, there was a town named ''Tzanicha'' or ''Tzantzakon'' ( in

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...

) means land of Zan / Laz people, possibly located to the west of Gümüşhane. Around 840 AD, the area was included in the new Roman (Byzantine) province of Chaldia (Χαλδία). It was later ruled by the Byzantine

Empire of Trebizond The Empire of Trebizond or the Trapezuntine Empire was one of the three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire that existed during the 13th through to the 15th century. The empire consisted of the Pontus, or far northeastern corner of A ...

. During the Ottoman years, the

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 ...

of Gümüşhane fell under the administration successively of Rum Province, Erzurum Province and Trabzon Province, and was divided into four kazas: Gümüşhane, Torul (capital city Ardassa), Şiran (Cheriana), and Kelkit (Keltik). The sanjak in which Gümüşhane was situated at some stage comprised 37 mines of argentiferous lead and six copper mines. There is no evidence that these mines were in use during Byzantine times. As for the name of the city during the Ottoman period, Greek-speaking population was also using the name Gümüşhane (Γκιμισχανά and Κιουμουσχανά) but, in the first decades of the 19th century, the

name Argiroupoli (Αργυρόπολις, from ''argyros'' "silver" and ''polis'' "city") was used. After the population exchange of 1923 many of the

inhabitants moved to the synonymous town in

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Geography

Gümüşhane is surrounded by high mountains, Zigana-Trabzon Mountains to the north, Çimen Mountains to the south, Giresun Mountains to the west and Pulur, Soğanlı Mountains to the east. Trekking is popular sport is at these mountains. Mount Zigana has a ski center on it and it is a well known tourist destination for winter sports. Abdal Musa Peak (3331 m.) is the highest peak within it. The main trees in the forests are Scotch pine and fir, and there are many animals and birds in the area. There are many lakes such as Karanlık Göl, Beş Göller, Artebel Gölü, Kara Göller which are at the peak of Gavurdağı Mountain, and are preserved as natural parks. All these mountains compose 56% of the area of Gümüşhane province.

Climate

Gümüşhane has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Dsb,'' bordering ''Dfb,'' or

Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC), or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC), is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köp ...

: ''Dc'') with cold and snowy winters and warm summers. In the height of summer; July and August, temperatures at midday usually surpass 28 °C, summer nights tend to become very cool due to the continentality of Gümüşhane, and in winter temperatures usually plummet to -10 °C and even go as low as -20 °C occasionally. Highest recorded temperature: on 2 August 2017
Lowest recorded temperature: on 22 February 1985

Historic sites: architecture and archaeology

Gümüşhane has a rich historical background so there are many historical places, mosques, churches, castles. The ancient city of Satala in the modern village of Sadak was the most important military camp of the ancient

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

in the east. This place was ruled by the Colchians,

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

Urartu Urartu was an Iron Age kingdom centered around the Armenian highlands between Lake Van, Lake Urmia, and Lake Sevan. The territory of the ancient kingdom of Urartu extended over the modern frontiers of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia.Kleiss, Wo ...

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

Pontic Greeks The Pontic Greeks (; or ; , , ), also Pontian Greeks or simply Pontians, are an ethnically Greek group indigenous to the region of Pontus, in northeastern Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). They share a common Pontic Greek culture that is di ...

, Romans, and Byzantines. Today, rests of the Sadak village is protected by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In addition, Süleymaniye Mosque is in the previous Gümüşhane settlement and it was commissioned by the Ottoman sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Küçük Mosque and Çit Village Mosque are some of other popular mosques in the city. Besides, there are numerous churches within Gümüşhane. Santa Çakallı, Santa Terzili, Kalur Rock, Samamoni, and Theodor Churches are some examples of historical churches in Gümüşhane. During the medieval period one of the most important guardians of the road connecting Trabzon to Erzincan was the Byzantine fortress located about northwest of modern Gümüşhane. An archaeological and historical assessment of this site as well as a scaled plan were published in 1985. 3The impressive circuit walls and defenses are clearly evident at the accessible west approach to the lofty outcrop. In addition to several rooms and cisterns, the castle has two chapels; the easternmost was once covered by a dome.

Natural environment

There are numerous large and small

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

s which owe their formation to the geology - particularly the

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

s - of Gümüşhane, including Alicli Agil Cave, Arili Cave, Altınbaşı Cave, Asarönü Ören Cave, Kartalkaya Cave, Ayiini Cave, K.Ardiçli Cave, Karçukuru Cave, Ardiçli Cave, Tepekli Cave, Uçbacalı Cave, Buz Cave and Ikisu Cave. A distinctive local

wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, rather than being intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is any different from the native plant, eve ...

, bearing purple blossoms in Spring and frequently to be found growing in rock crevices around the mouths of Gümüşhane's many caves, is a member of the

nightshade Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...

genus

Physochlaina ''Physochlaina'' is a small genus of herbaceous perennial flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family, Solanaceae, found principally in the north-western provinces of China (and regions adjoining these in the Himalaya and Central Asia) al ...

: Physochlaina orientalis - a plant rich in medicinally valuable tropane alkaloids of the type found also in belladonna. The cave in Gümüşhane most visited by tourists is the long Karaca Cave, popular because of its

speleothems A speleothem (; ) is a geological formation made by mineral deposits that accumulate over time in natural caves. Speleothems most commonly form in calcareous caves due to carbonate dissolution reactions. They can take a variety of forms, depend ...

(= dripstone formations), including stalagmites,

stalactites A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension, or is ca ...

, columns and

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...

pools. It is a fossil cave located between Torul and Gümüşhane, in which the lime-rich water percolating through fissures in the roof has slowly built up

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

structures of remarkable complexity. Other geological features of Gümüşhane include the numerous plateaux commanding views of the forested areas which surround them. These include the Zigana, Taşköprü, Artabel, Şiran and Kalis plateaux, which form fitting sites for the Summer festivals which are held there annually.

Cuisine

Many native tourists participate in these festivals - not only for entertainment's sake, but also to shop for regional delicacies. ''Pestil'' and ''köme'' are renowned desserts of Gümüşhane, made from mulberries,

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

, hazel nuts,

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

s and milk. In addition to köme and pestil, rosehips,

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

s, and walnuts are notable local foods put to use in the many different desserts which are numbered among the regional specialities of Gümüşhane. Nor is the town's rich food culture restricted to sweetmeats : '' mantı'', ''lemis'', ''erişte'', '' borani'', ''kuymak'', ''evelek, dolması'' and ''siron'' feature among the savoury dishes local to Gümüşhane.

Ethnic groups

Pontic Greek influence

Just after the fall of Trebizond (1461) and the town soon became a home for miners. Sultan Murad ΙΙΙ (1574–1595) appears to have granted extra privileges to the chief miners and the town prospered and soon became a centre of Hellenism. At the time, it had 60,000 residents. Its trade was increasing and the whole province of Chaldia was on the rise. Another example of its development was that they minted coins with the name Kioumous-hane on them. Another example was the settlement of chief mining families there such as the Sarasites, the Karatsades, the Stavracoglous, the Kalimachidises, the Grigorantons and others. There were also more jewellery shops opening, as well as more hagiography and other arts in the region. The rise in wealth and abundance soon brought positive changes to the communities. From the beginning of the 18th century new schools were opening, and from 1723 the Greek Tuition Centre '' Frontistirion of Argyropolis'' was in full operation. The tuition centre became an educational institution and spiritual centre of the region. In 1650 the diocese was elevated to archdiocese status, and hundreds of churches and temples were built. New mines rich in minerals were discovered in Ak-dag Maden and Argoni, which resulted in a large exodus of miners from Argyropolis to the new mines. The further dramatic fall in population followed the Russo-Turkish War of 1829–30, when many Greek Pontians of the area collaborated with or welcomed the Russian army that occupied the area. So as to escape likely Turkish reprisals, the majority of the Pontic Greek population followed the Russian army as it withdrew back into

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and Southern Russia, many settling there and joining preexisting communities of Caucasus Greeks that had moved eastwards between the fall of the

in 1461 and the 1801 Russian annexation of Georgia, including another community of Pontic Greekophone miners who had settled in Lore, then

Kingdom of Kartli The Kingdom of Kartli ( ka, ქართლის სამეფო, tr) was a late medieval and early modern monarchy in eastern Georgia, centred on the province of Kartli, with its capital at Tbilisi. It emerged in the process of a tripar ...

of Georgia in 1778 invited by the king Heraclius II of Georgia. Some of the

Pontic Greek Pontic Greek (, ; or ''Romeika'') is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, and the Eastern Turkish and Caucasus region. An endangered Greek language variety ...

mining families of Gumuşhane also settled in

Nicomedia Nicomedia (; , ''Nikomedeia''; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocletian who rul ...

, Mesopotamia and other mining regions, from Tiflis (

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

) to as far as Ak-Dağ and the Taurus. During those years tension between the Christian Greeks (Rum) and Muslim population was also growing due to the Greek Revolution and the public reversion to Greek Orthodoxy of many of the Stavriotes,

who had superficially adopted Turkish Islam in the early Ottoman period but who had remained crypto-Christian in private. During those confusing and troubling times many people became benefactors of Argyropolis, such as the Sarasite family and the influential teacher Georgios Kyriakidis. Kyriakidis identified the need to extract large sums of money from the churches of Saint George, Saint Theodore, Τίμιου Σταυρού and Παναγίας for the educational needs of the town. Sale of church property as well as donations and consecrations resulted in the erection of a new school at the Frontistirion of Argyropolis, a school which was to operate until the population exchange (1923). The Frontistirion comprised a three-grade high school, a seven-grade primary school including scholarship classes, and a six-grade girls' school, as well as a carpet-making technical school. Another public building was the library, the Educational Society Kyriakidis, as well as the Metropolis of Chaldia. The Argyropolitans therefore are very much regarded as having some of the best resources in education, due mainly to their economic rise as a result of mining. Özhan Öztürk, Pontus: Antik Çağ’dan Günümüze Karadeniz’in Etnik ve Siyasi Tarihi Genesis Publishing. Ankara, 2011 pp. 695-701 After the Pontic Greek Genocide (1914–1923), a few ethnic

managed to flee to

. They settled in

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

, region of

Northern Greece Northern Greece () is used to refer to the northern parts of Greece, and can have various definitions. Administrative term The term "Northern Greece" is widely used to refer mainly to the two northern regions of Macedonia and (Western) Thra ...

. A small group which settled in Naousa brought precious items with them from their churches in town, as well as items from the library of the Frontistirion, including rare manuscripts and books. This collection is still in use today by Euxenus Association of Pontians of Naoussa - National Library of Argyroupolis 'Kiriakidis' and is considered a prized asset of Naousa. The town was occupied by the Russian army on July 20, 1916, but the Russians withdrew on February 15, 1918, after the fall of the czar. After the exchange (1923) no Orthodox remained in the region.

Economy

Historically, Gümüşhane had

mulberry tree ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinate ...

plantations for

sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, the caterpillar of the Bombyx mori, domestic silkmoth is the most widely used and intensively studied silkwo ...

Gallery

File:[email protected], Torul File:Santa_Harabeleri_-_panoramio.jpg, left, Santa Ruins in Gümüşhane File:Gümüşhane_Yolu..._-_panoramio_(1).jpg, Highway to Gümüşhane city center

Mayors of Gümüşhane

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Yalçın Kurt ANAP *

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Naim Ağaç DYP *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Mustafa Canlı MHP *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Ercan Çimen

AK Party The Justice and Development Party ( , AK PARTİ), abbreviated officially as AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democratic. It has been the ruling party of Turkey since 2002. Third-party sources ...

- current Vedat Soner Başer MHP

Notable natives

* Hasan Fehmi Ataç (1879, Gümüşhane - 1961), Deputy during the Ottoman Empire and after declaration of republic first Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Finance of Turkey * Nihal Atsız (1905, İstanbul - 1975), Prominent Turkish nationalist writer, born into a family from Gümüşhane * Bahriye Üçok (1919, Trabzon - 1990), Turkish academic of theology, left-wing politician and writer, born into Ataç family of Gümüşhane * Tarık Akan (1949, İstanbul - 2016), Turkish film actor and producer, born into a family from Gümüşhane *

Beren Saat Beren Saat (; born 26 February 1984) is a Turkish actress. Since the beginning of her career, she has received critical acclaim and numerous accolades for her acting. While studying at Başkent University, she participated in the acting competi ...

(1984, Ankara - ), Turkish actress, born into a family from Gümüşhane * Turgay Erdener (1957, Gümüşhane - ), Composer and teacher *

Aydın Doğan Aydın Doğan (born 15 April 1936) is a Turkish business magnate and investor. He is the founder of Doğan Holding, one of Turkey's largest conglomerates. Biography Born in 1936 as a member of a well-known family in Kelkit, Doğan went to el ...

(1936, Kelkit - ), Entrepreneur and businessmen *

Mehmet Scholl Mehmet Tobias Scholl (born Mehmet Tobias Yüksel; 16 October 1970) is a German Association football, football manager and former player. He played most of his career as an attacking midfielder for FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich. During his care ...

(1970, Karlsruhe - ), German football manager and former player, born into a family from Torul * Hikmet Temel Akarsu (1960, Gümüşhane - ), Turkish novelist, short-story writer, satirist and playwright * Yusuf Güney (1984, Trabzon - ), Turkish singer, born into a family from Kelkit * Armağan Çağlayan (1966, İstanbul - ), Turkish television producer and lawyer, born into a family from Gümüşhane on his maternal side. * Saint George Karslidis (1901, Tsalka - 1959) Greek Elder * Georgios Kandilaptis (1881, Gümüşhane - 1971), Greek scholar, journalist, teacher and writer * Ertuğrul Sağlam (1969, Zonguldak - ), Turkish football manager and former player, born into a family from Torul * Ziya Doğan (1961, Köse - ), Turkish football manager * Tolga Zengin (1983, Hopa - ), Turkish football goalkeeper, born into a family from Torul * Yunus Mallı (1992, Kaseel - ), Turkish footballer, born into a family from Şiran * Mithat Demirel (1978, Berlin - ), German former professional basketball player of Turkish descent.

References

Literature

*The Encyclopedia of Pontian Hellenism. Malliaris Pedia. *The Byzantine Monuments and Topography of the Pontos . Anthony Bryer, David Winfield. Dumbarton Oaks p. 3 * *

External links

Municipality's official website

Argyroupoolis (Gümüşhane)

Carefully documented photographic survey and plan of Gümüşhane Castle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gumushane Populated places in Gümüşhane District Pontus (region) Provincial municipalities in Turkey