Sinop, historically known as Sinope (, ), is a city on the isthmus of
İnce Burun (İnceburun, Cape Ince) and on the
Boztepe Peninsula, near Cape Sinope (Sinop Burnu, Boztepe Cape, Boztepe Burnu) which is situated on the northernmost edge of the Turkish side of the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...
coast, in the ancient region of
Paphlagonia
Paphlagonia (; , modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; ) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia (later, Galatia ...
, in modern-day northern
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 ...
. It is the seat of
Sinop Province
Sinop Province (; , ''Sinopi'') is a province of Turkey, along the Black Sea. It is located between 41 and 42 degrees North latitude and between 34 and 35 degrees East longitude. Its area is 5,717 km2, equivalent to 0.73% of Turkey's tot ...
and
Sinop District.
[İl Belediyesi]
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 22 May 2023. Its population is 57,404 (2022).
History

Over a period of approximately 2,500 years, Sinope has at various times been settled by
Colchians and then the
Greeks
Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...
(in the late 7th, late 5th, and 4th–3rd centuries BC) and by
Turkic people
Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...
beginning in the 13th century. In the 19th and 20th centuries it was also settled by the ''
muhacir'' who immigrated from the
Balkans
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
and
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
.
The Greek colony of Sinope () was founded by
Ionians
The Ionians (; , ''Íōnes'', singular , ''Íōn'') were one of the traditional four major tribes of Ancient Greece, alongside the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaeans. The Ionian dialect was one of the three major linguistic divisions of the ...
from the city of
Miletus
Miletus (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, Mílētos) was an influential ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in present day Turkey. Renowned in antiquity for its wealth, maritime power, and ex ...
. Sinope issued its own coinage, founded colonies, and gave its name to a red earth pigment called
sinopia
Sinopia (also known as sinoper, named after the now Turkish city Sinop, Turkey, Sinop) is a dark reddish-brown natural earth pigment, whose reddish colour comes from hematite, a dehydrated form of iron oxide. It was widely used in Classical A ...
, which was mined in
Cappadocia
Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...
for use throughout the ancient world. Some scholars have dated the earliest
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 ...
colonization of Sinope to the 7th c. BC, while others have proposed an earlier date in the 8th c. While literary evidence exists supporting earlier settlement, archaeological evidence has been found of Greek settlement around the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...
region beginning in the late 7th century.
Sinope was strategically located among the trade routes that were developing on the southern Coast of the Black Sea, but remained relatively isolated from other inland communities until the 4th century BC.
There is literary evidence of early links between
Colchis
In classical antiquity and Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia.
Its population, the ...
and Sinope in mythological tradition.
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...
s writings link the legendary founder of Sinope,
Autolycus, with
Jason
Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...
and the
Argonauts
The Argonauts ( ; ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', named after it ...
.
Polybius
Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...
described Sinope as being "on the way to
Phasis".
The Persian
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...
s northward expansion in the 4th century disrupted Sinope's control over its eastern colonies, including
Trapezus
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 Em ...
(present day Trabzon). The
satrap
A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median kingdom, Median and Achaemenid Empire, Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic empi ...
Datames briefly occupied the city around 375 BC.
There is archaeological evidence of increased economic activity between the port city of Sinope and the surrounding inland areas during between 4th and 1st c. BC. Sinope appears to have maintained its independence from the dominion of
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
, and with the help of
Rhodes
Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...
turned back an assault led by
Mithridates II of Pontus
Mithridates II (Greek: Mιθριδάτης; lived 3rd century BC), third king of Pontus and son of Ariobarzanes, whom he succeeded on the throne.
Early life
He was a minor when his father died, but the date of his accession cannot be determi ...
in 220 BC. Sinope eventually fell to
Pharnaces I in 183 BC, after which it became the capital of the
Pontic Kingdom.

The
Roman general
Lucullus
Lucius Licinius Lucullus (; 118–57/56 BC) was a Ancient Romans, Roman List of Roman generals, general and Politician, statesman, closely connected with Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In culmination of over 20 years of almost continuous military and ...
conquered Sinope in 70 BC, and
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
established a
Roman colony
A Roman (: ) was originally a settlement of Roman citizens, establishing a Roman outpost in federated or conquered territory, for the purpose of securing it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It ...
there, Colonia Julia Felix, in 47 BC.
Mithradates Eupator was born and buried at Sinope, and it was the birthplace of
Diogenes
Diogenes the Cynic, also known as Diogenes of Sinope (c. 413/403–c. 324/321 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism (philosophy), Cynicism. Renowned for his ascetic lifestyle, biting wit, and radical critique ...
; of
Diphilus, poet and actor of the
New Attic comedy; of the historian
Baton; and of the second-century Christian heretic
Marcion
Marcion of Sinope (; ; ) was a theologian in early Christianity. Marcion preached that God had sent Jesus Christ, who was distinct from the "vengeful" God ( Demiurge) who had created the world. He considered himself a follower of Paul the Apost ...
.
After the division of the
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 395, Sinope remained with the
Eastern Roman Empire
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 ...
. Its history in the early Byzantine period is obscure, except for isolated events: it was used by
Justinian II as a base from which to reconnoitre
Cherson, participated in the rebellion of the
Armeniac Theme in 793, was the site of
Theophobos' proclamation as emperor by his
Khurramite troops in 838, and suffered its only attack by the Arabs in 858.
In 1081, the city was captured by 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 ...
, who found there a sizeable treasury, but Sinope was soon recovered by
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...
, ushering a period of prosperity under the
Komnenian dynasty.
After the
sacking of
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
by the
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
in 1204, it was captured for the
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 ...
by
David Komnenos, until the Seljuk Turks of
Rûm successfully
captured the city in 1214.
The city returned briefly to
Trapezuntine rule in 1254, but returned to Turkish control in 1265, where it has remained since.
After 1265, Sinop became home to two successive independent
emirate
An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalent ...
s following the fall of the Seljuks: the
Pervâne and the
Jandarids. During his march on
Trebizond, the
Ottoman Sultan
Mehmet II overawed Ismail, the emir of Sinop, and forced him to surrender the city without a fight. Mehmet took possession in late June 1461, exiling Ismail to Philippopolis (modern
Plovdiv
Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...
) in northern Thrace.
Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...
visited the city and stayed for about forty days. He noted it was "a superb city which combines fortification with beautification."
In 1614, Sinop was targeted by
Cossack
The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...
raiders and extensively looted and burned in an event which shocked Ottoman contemporaries.
In November 1853, at the start of the
Crimean War
The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
, in the
Battle of Sinop, the
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
ns, under the command of Admiral
Nakhimov, destroyed an Ottoman frigate squadron in Sinop, leading Britain and France to declare war on Russia.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Sinop was part of the
Kastamonu Vilayet of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
.
As of 1920, Sinop was described as populated mainly by
Greeks
Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...
with an approximate population of 8,000. It was also considered the "safest" port "between
Bosphorus
The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...
and
Batum", at the time. During this period, the port was exporting
wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
,
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
, seeds, timber and hides. They imported produce, coal and hardware.
The Greek inhabitants left in 1923 after the
Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey, with many settling in
Nea Sinopi.
Sinop hosted a
US military
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...
base and radar that was important for intelligence during the
Cold War era. The US base was closed in 1992.
Explorer
Robert Ballard
Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is noted for his work in underwater archaeology (maritime archaeology and archaeology of ...
discovered an ancient ship wreck north west of Sinop in the Black Sea and was shown on
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
.
Numismatics

Greek coins featuring an eagle holding a dolphin or marine animal in its talons have been found in Sinope,
Istria
Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...
and
Olbia
Olbia (, ; ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune of 61,000 inhabitants in the Italy, Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle ...
. Located in present-day Turkey, Romania and Ukraine respectively, all three were colonies of Miletus. The coins circulated between c. 450 and 325 BC. Coins of the "Sinope type" continued to be issued by Persians under Achaemenid rule in the 4th century BC. At least two Persian issuers of such coins have been studied in some detail: the
satrap
A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median kingdom, Median and Achaemenid Empire, Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic empi ...
Datames in
Cappadocia
Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...
and
Ariarathes
Ariarathes (, ''Ariaráthēs'') was the name of ten Hellenistic kings of Cappadocia in Anatolia, between the 4th and 1st centuries BC. They are:
* Ariarathes I of Cappadocia, ruled 331 or 330–322 BC, son of the Cappadocian satrap Ariamnes I
* ...
.
Geography
Sinop is located on a
promontory
A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...
at the
narrowest point of the Black Sea. It has two harbors and is located along the southern shore of the Black Sea, near the shortest crossing to the
Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
. The nearby mountainous terrain is green and noted for its
timber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
.
Climate
Sinop has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Cfa,''
Trewartha'': Cf'').
Sinop has warm summers with an average daytime high of 26 °C (79 °F), and temperatures rarely exceed 30 °C (86 °F). The winters are cool and wet, the average for February is just below . Snowfall is occasional December to March, sometimes lasting a week or two.
Economy
As of 1920, Sinop was producing embroidered
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
cloth. They also were known for
boatbuilding. The boats produced in Sinop were described by a British observer as being of "primitive design but sound workmanship."
Sinop was slated to be the site of the
Sinop Nuclear Power Plant, a $15.8 billion
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...
plant to be developed by
Elektrik Üretim,
Engie
Engie SA (stylised in all caps as ENGIE) is a French multinational electric utility company, headquartered in La Défense, Courbevoie. Its activities cover electricity generation and distribution, natural gas, nuclear power, renewable energy ...
,
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the prede ...
and
Itochu
is a Japanese corporation based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo, Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo.
It is one of the largest Japanese ''sogo shosha'' (general trading and investment companies) distinguished by the strength of its textil ...
. The plant would consist of four reactors, with construction to begin in 2017 and completion by 2028. The project was cancelled in 2018.
Cultural and other attractions
Visitor attraction places in Sinop are:
Pasha Bastion () is a half-moon coastal
bastion
A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...
, a semi-circular fortification, situated southeast of Sinop Peninsula. It was constructed to protect the city against attacks coming from the Black Sea during the Russo-Turkish War,
Crimean War
The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
(1853–1856). It features an
artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to f ...
of eleven cannons, an arsenal and basement. Today, it is used as a place for refreshments premise.
Historic Water Tunnel () is an ancient underground water supply channel situated at Sülüklü Göl (literally: Lake of
Leech
Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...
es. Dug in rock, it is about long and has a clearance of . There exists a high cylindrical ventilation shaft of diameter.
Balatlar Church () is a ruined church from the
Byzantine Empire
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 History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
period. It is partly preserved as only the chapel vault is in undamaged condition while other parts of the church have no roof any more.
Fresco
Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...
paintings on the chapel's ceiling and on the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
walls are still intact.
Serapeum is a ruined
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...
dedicated to the combined
Hellenistic
In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
-
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
ian
deity
A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...
Serapis
Serapis or Sarapis is a Egyptian Greeks, Graeco-Egyptian god. A Religious syncretism, syncretic deity derived from the worship of the Egyptian Osiris and Apis (deity), Apis, Serapis was extensively popularized in the third century BC on the ord ...
, situated in the southwestern corner in the yard of
Sinop Archaeological Museum.
Alaaddin Mosque is a 13th-century mosque of
Seljuk architecture named after its endower Sultan
Alaaddin Kayqubad I (1188–1237).
Pervane Medrese is a former
Islamic religious school, which was closed down after the proclamation of the
Republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
. The 13th-century building was used as a depot for archaeological artifacts and ethnographic items from 1932 on, and served as a museum between 1941 and 1970. It hosts souvenir shops today.
Sinop Fortress () is a fortification surrounding the peninsula and the isthmus of Sinop. It was built initially by migrants from
Miletus
Miletus (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, Mílētos) was an influential ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in present day Turkey. Renowned in antiquity for its wealth, maritime power, and ex ...
in the 8th century BC. The fortress underwent reparation and expansion to its current extent during the reign of King
Mithridates IV of Pontus in the 2nd century BC after its destruction 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 7th century BC. Some parts of the fortress, especially the north walls, are ruined.
Sinop Fortress Prison () is a defunct state prison situated inside the Sinop Fortress. Served between 1887 and 1997, the prison rose to fame when it featured in many literature works of notable authors, who were inmates of the prison for political reasons. It became also a shooting set for many movies and television series. It is a prison museum today.
Sinop Archaeological Museum () is a 1941-established archaeological museum exhibiting artifacts dating back to
Early Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
and from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods as well.
Sinop Ethnographic Museum () is a museum of
ethnographic exhibits belonging to the cultural history of the region. It is situated in a large 18th-century mansion.
Statue of Diogenes () is a monument to the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
philosopher
Diogenes of Sinope born in Sinop in about 412 BC.
Notable people
; Historical:
*
Aquila of Sinope
Aquila (Hebrew language, Hebrew: עֲקִילַס ''ʿăqīlas'', Floruit, fl. 130 Common Era, CE) of Sinope (modern-day Sinop, Turkey; ) was a translator of the Hebrew Bible into Greek language, Greek, a proselyte, and disciple of Rabbi Akiva.
R ...
(2nd century), Bible translator
*
Baton of Sinope (3rd century BC), historian and grammarian
*
Diogenes of Sinope (412 or 404 BC–323 BC), philosopher
*
Diphilus (4th century BC), Middle Comedy playwright
*
Gazi Chelebi (14th century), naval commander
*
İsfendiyar Bey
Mubāriz al-Dīn Isfendiyār Bey (Old Anatolian Turkish: ; – 26 February 1440), was a member of the Candar dynasty that reigned as ''bey'' from 1385 until his death in 1440. Although the name of the dynasty is ''Candar'', following his reign, ...
of the Candar beylik
*
Marcion of Sinope (c. 85–160), founder of
Marcionism
*
Mithridates VI of Pontus
Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator (; 135–63 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an effective, ambitious, and r ...
(134–63 BC), king of Pontus
*
Phocas, Bishop of Sinope (died 117)
*
Saint Phocas (c. 300)
*
Saint Helen of Sinope (18th century)
*
Seydi Ali Reis
Seydi Ali Reis (1498–1563), formerly also written Sidi Ali Reis and Sidi Ali Ben Hossein, was an Ottoman admiral and navigator. Known also as Katib-i Rumi, Galatalı or Sidi Ali Çelebi,Danışan, Gaye. 2019. “A Sixteenth-Century Otto ...
, Ottoman admiral, writer and scientist, was born into a family originally from Sinop.
; Contemporary:
*
Rıza Nur (1879–1942), politician
*
Ahmet Muhip Dıranas (1909–1980), poet
*
Necmettin Erbakan (1926–2011), former prime minister
*
Patriarch Maximus V of Constantinople (1897–1972), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
*
Metin Tuğlu (1984—), footballer
*
Hakan Ünsal (1973—), footballer
*
Sinan Uzun (1990—), footballer
*
Gökçe Akyıldız (1992—), actress
*
Ayça Ayşin Turan (1992—), actress
Legacy
Sinope has given its name to the outermost satellite of
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
. A
crater on Mars is named after Sinop too.
Sister cities
Sinop has ten sister cities:
Gallery
File:Sinop-tarihi-resim.jpg, Sinop old city on an Ottoman era postcard.
File:Sinop-museum.JPG, Sinop Museum.
File:Sinop-Marina port area.jpg, Sinop Marina.
File:Sinop-ruine4.JPG, Sinop Fortress Ruins.
File:Sinop-ruine2.JPG, Sinop Fortress Ruins.
See also
*
Pervâneoğlu dynasty
*
Isfendiyarids
*
Gazi Çelebi
*
Aquila of Sinope
Aquila (Hebrew language, Hebrew: עֲקִילַס ''ʿăqīlas'', Floruit, fl. 130 Common Era, CE) of Sinope (modern-day Sinop, Turkey; ) was a translator of the Hebrew Bible into Greek language, Greek, a proselyte, and disciple of Rabbi Akiva.
R ...
*
Sinope Gospels
References
Further reading
* John Garstang, ''The Hittite Empire, Being a Survey of the History, Geography and Monuments of Hittite Asia Minor and Syria'' (London: Constable and Company Ltd, 1929).
External links
Pictures of Sinop
{{Authority control
Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey
Greek colonies in Anatolia
Greek colonies on the Black Sea coast
Milesian colonies
Black Sea port cities and towns in Turkey
Provincial municipalities in Turkey
Fishing communities in Turkey
Paphlagonia
Populated coastal places in Turkey
Populated places in Sinop Province
Sinop District
Roman towns and cities in Turkey
Populated places established in the 7th century BC