Of (, possibly from ''Ophious'') is a municipality and

district 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Trabzon Province Trabzon Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Its area is 4,628 km2, and its population is 818,023 (2022). Located in a strategic ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its area is 258 km², and its population is 43,591 (2022). It is located in the eastern part of the province and is an important historical district of the province. The mayor is Salim Salih Sarıalioğlu ( AKP).

Etymology

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

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 ...

speaking inhabitants. According to another view it means "village" or "settlement" in the Laz language (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 known as Peutinger's Tabula, Peutinger tablesJames Strong (theologian) , James Strong and John McClintock (theologian) , John McClintock (1880)"Eleutheropolis" In: ''The Cyclopedia of Bibli ...

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

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

as ''Ophis'', a

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 ...

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 all of Turkey.

History

Ophius was a known harbor during ancient times. The area was inhabited by the native Colchian people. 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. During most of its history the district and its hinterland were subjugated to nearby Trabzon. The southern districts Dernekpazarı, Çaykara and Hayrat of Trabzon province and the western half of İkizdere district today part of Rize province were historically part of the region of Of. The

defter A ''defter'' was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire. Etymology The term is derived from Greek , literally 'processed animal skin, leather, fur', meaning a book, having pages of goat parchment used along with papyrus ...

of 1515 records 60 settlements in the Of area and 2601 taxable families out of which 51 (almost 2%) are recorded as belonging to Muslims while the rest 2550 (98%) are recorded as Christian. However, the defter of 1583 shows a sharp increase in Muslim presence with 991 out of 4159 families or 24% of the population. During that time many Christians began retreating to the upper valley highlands away from areas showing an increase in Muslim presence. While the last quarter of the 16th century saw an acceleration in the growth of the number of Muslims, it was during the years of the 17th century that the region began its transformation into a bastion of Sunni Islam. Until the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the river Ophis (''now Solakli'') was a natural border between Muslim Greek and Orthodox Christian Greek settlements. The settlements inhabited by Orthodox Christian Greeks were Halt (''Sogutlu''), Zourel (''Sarakoy''), Kourits (''Sivrice''), Krinita (''Catalsogut''), Kofkia (''Yaniktas''), Giga (''Yiga''), Zisino (''Bolumlu)'' and Leka (''Camli''). Despite their religious differences everyone spoke Ophitic Greek, a dialect of

. After the population exchange, refugees from the Of area were resettled in Northern Greece, mainly in the areas of

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

, Kilkis and Kozani. In 1926 a group of these refugees purchased land near

Katerini Katerini (, ''Kateríni'', ) is a city and municipality in northern Greece, the capital city of Regional Unit of Piera in Central Macedonia, Greece. It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mount Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf, at an altitude ...

and 2 years later in 1928 founded Nea Trapezounta one of only a handful of purely Ophitic refugee villages. A minority of Muslim

speakers, using the Ophitic dialect (or ''Romeyka''), still live in the area.''Jason and the argot: land where Greek's ancient language survives''
''The Independent'', Monday, 3 January 2011

Composition

There are 68

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Of District:Mahalle
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023. * Ağaçbaşı * Ağaçseven * Aşağıkışlacık * Ballıca * Barış * Başköy * Bayırca * Birlik * Bölümlü * Çaltılı * Çamlı * Çamlıtepe * Çataldere * Çatalsöğüt * Çukurova * Cumapazarı * Cumhuriyet * Dağalan * Darılı * Dereköy * Doğançay * Dumlusu * Erenköy * Esenköy * Eskipazar * Fındıkoba * Gökçeoba * Gümüşören * Güresen * Gürpınar * İkidere * İrfanlı * Kaban * Karabudak * Kavakpınar * Kazançlı * Keler * Kirazköy * Kireçli * Kıyıboyu * Kıyıcık * Korkut * Korucuk * Kumludere * Örtülü * Ovacık * Pınaraltı * Saraçlı * Sarayköy * Sarıbey * Sarıkaya * Sefaköy * Serince * Sıraağaç * Sivrice * Soğukpınar * Söğütlü * Sugeldi * Sulaklı * Tavşanlı * Tekoba * Uğurlu * Uluağaç * Yanıktaş * Yazlık * Yemişalan * Yenimahalle * Yukarıkışlacık

Notable people

* Ali Ağaoğlu Businessman (1959) * Erdoğan Bayraktar Politician, The ex Minister of Environment and Urban Planning of Turkey * Fatih Çakıroğlu (1981) wrestling European champion * Hasan Küçükakyüz (1957) Commander of the Turkish Air Force * Fatih Öztürk (1983) Football player * Mustafa Varank (1976) The Minister of Industry and Technology * Mehmet Yılmaz (1979) Football player *

Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu (1929 – 23 June 2022), also known as Mahmud Effendi and known to his followers as "Effendi Hazretleri", was a Turkish people, Turkish Sufi Sheikh and the leader of the influential İsmailağa Jamia of the Naqshbandi-Khali ...

(1927) Famous

sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and

Naqshbandi Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet ...

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

leader

References

External links