Turkey City: Trabzon
No other Turkish city, except, perhaps, Istanbul is not known outside the country as Trabzon. This is not surprising – founded in the VIII century BC. NS. Trapezant (Trapezund) to the era of Alexander was the easternmost Greek colony of Ponta Evksinsky. In the Romans, he becomes the capital of Ponutus province, a large military and commercial port, only the invasion is ready in the III century. NS. put an end to the Byzantine period in the history of the city. Then another thousand years he flourished as an independent settlement, as the capital of one or another of the numerous kings of the South Black Sea region, remaining an important shopping center that under the Genoese, that during Osmans.
- View of the district of Åttsisar
- Mosque Gulbharhar-Hatun
- Ayia Sophia Cathedral
- Street trading
sights
The main decoration of the city is the cathedral Ayia Sophia (Saint Sophia, 1238-1263.) – an outstanding monument of the Latezantine architecture and the largest Christian temple in the eastern part of the Black Sea’s Turkish coast with perfectly preserved Byzantine frescoes. Rebuilt after 1461 in the mosque, the cathedral subsequently suffered a few more reconstructions and even used as a arsenal and hospital, but in 1957-1964 the international group of restorers literally saved the building from destruction and restored many frescoes – now they are well covered and thoroughly marked in English , so since 1964 the complex has the status of a museum (open from April to October daily from 9.00 to 18.00; from November to February – from Thursday to Sunday from 8.00 to 16.00; In March – from Thursday to Sunday from 8.00 to 17.00; Login – 2 TRY). To the north of the ensemble of the church, there is still a dilapidated complex of the bastile font, square bell tower (1443 g.) West has inside superb frescoes, and in the garden opposite the cashier there is a small museum (open on the same schedule as the Cathedral, the entrance – 2 TRY), which is typical of the village house with a small ethnographic collection inside.
Also good Urban Fort, Spring between the coastal road tunnel and a small park, the Catholic Church Sante-Maria (open from Thursday to Sunday from 14.00 to 15.00), monumental heart of the market area – Mosque Charshi and caravan shed Tash-Han (XVI B.), mosque Yeni (The former Church of St. Eugene – the patron saint of the city, III-XIII centuries.), Oltahisar ("Middle Castle" – The area of the Old Town) with its ancient walls and remnants of bastions, often built into later structures, once the main temple of the Trapezund Empire – Church Panaya Chrysochefalos (Now – Mosque Åtovaisar, or Fatih-Kamya, XIII-XVI centuries.), Upper citadel With her ruins of the Byzantine Palace, Mosque Gulbharhar-Hatun (1512-1514.), tiny Byzantine church Kuchuk-Aivasil (St. Anne, IX in.), "our market" Avrasya-Pazar At the foot of the Rock, crowned by mosque Iskander Pasha, as well as almost a dozen other markets.
A business card of the city is also considered a lot of beautiful mansions of the XVII-XIX centuries on Uzun Sokak. One of the best examples of old urban villas is constructed by Italians Kostaki-Eoofilakos-Konaga on Zeytinlik Caddesi, which is now located Museum of Trabzon (open from Thursday to Sunday with 9.30 to 12.00 from 13.00 to 17.30, input – 2 try). Towering among the impeccable garden of Villa Ataturk-Cat (Open daily from 8.00 to 17.00, entrance – 2 TRY) was built in 1903 as a residence of the Greek banker Karaiannidis, in 1924 it stops here for a while "Father nation", And the city gave him this complex a year before his death. Now there is a small Museum of Ataturk, but a very greater interest is usually the house that is considered a typical model of the Aristocratic Architecture of the Black Sea.
Hill Boztepe’s dominant over the whole history of the city was a cult place – in antiquity, the temple dedicated to Mitre and Apollon was toured here, and in Christian times the entire hill was built up with churches and monasteries. Only two were preserved to this day – the former women’s monastery Panaya theoskeepos (Kyzlar Manastiri, XIV in.) 1.5 km from Ataturk Alani and Armenian Monastery Kaymakla (XIV-XVI centuries.) with its amazing interiors and the frescoes of the Apocalypse (XVII in.).
Tourist office Trabzon
Trabzon’s tourist office is located on the side street east of Ataturk Alani, opposite the Schedunder Pasha mosque. Open from March to August every day from 8.00 to 19.00; From September to February – from Monday to Friday from 8.00 to 17.00. Telephone: (0462) 326-07-48. Refik Cesur CAD 6 has a our consulate, telephone: (0462) 326-26-00.
Around the city
Since the time of Byzantines, the whole belt of monasteries and temples, which had not only cult, but also important defensive importance. The most important and significant monastery, which is best preserved to the present day, crowned the vertex of almost three hundred dollar rock over the Altyander Valley. According to legend, Mountain Monastery Panagia-managed ("Blessed Virgin Mary") It was founded in 386 by the monks of Varnava and Sofronim, who arrived from Athens with the miraculous way of the Virgin, written by the Evangelist Luke himself. Already in the VI century, a major monastery grew around the cave, although most of the structures survived to this day are dating XIII-XIV centuries. The glory of the monastery in which the kings of the Trapezundsky kingdom were crowned, was so great that even numerous raids of Arabs and the arrival of Islam did not telete its influence. Sultan Selim (XVI in.) And all the subsequent rulers of the Ottoman Empire confirmed the privileges of the monastery, and he happily existed until 1923, when life in the monastery broke out, the treasures were taken to Greece, and his five-story complex was progressing. Since 1996, a thorough reconstruction has been carried out in Supil, many frescoes of the XIV-XV centuries are combined and cleared, and the monastery itself turned into one of the main attractions of the neighborhood of Trabzon. The complex is open daily: from June to September – from 9.00 to 18.00; from November to February – from 9.00 to 16.00; From March to May and in October – from 9.00 to 17.00; Entrance ticket costs 5 try.
Nearby are the ruins of two as significant in the past monastic complexes – Vaselon (St. John the Baptist, 7.5 km south of Mazka) and peristher (4.5 km from the village Sysshirla, former cat). In the Middle Ages, they were quite capable of competing with the minimity of their facilities, but now they are dilapidated and what is important – hard-to-reach complexes.
Shore east of Trabzon gradually becomes very rocky and wet, and tobacco plantations are replaced by tea, which, in general, and glorified these places. Interestingly, the tea bush itself appeared in these parts relatively recently – just before the Second World War, when the anti-Greek Genocide and Armenians are simply unable to provide itself with products. Then the idea was born on not too fertile and raw local soils not wheat and corn, but a tea bush. And now almost a million (in "Cheese" the form) tons of tea grown here almost everywhere constitute the basis of the region’s economy. And almost all the sheet goes to the domestic market – the Turks appreciate their tea at no less than imported varieties and consume it in incredible quantities.
Good shores can be found only between Arakla (ARAKLI) and Surmena (Surmene), as well as a little east. A Rize (Rize, ancient rhizos – the easternmost border of the Trapezund kingdom) has long become "Tea capital of Turkey", Almost losing its historical monuments (only a tiny castle VIII is preserved.).
Even further, lazine lands (Lazinov) begin to east – one of the most famous and independent tribes of the country (however, the Turks themselves are usually called Lazami of all the inhabitants of the eastern regions of the Black Sea coast, which is fundamentally incorrect). Strictly speaking, to the lazam – the Carvetle tribe, the relatives of Georgians and speaking at very close to them, only 150 thousand inhabitants of Pazar regions (Pazar), Ardesen (Ardesen), Findikli (Findikli), Archavi (Arhavi) and Hopa (HOPA), plus some internal enclave. But colorful customs, distinctive history, tongue and culture of Lases, as well as their noticeably different from the Turks, the appearance brought them considerable popularity by making the concept "LAZ" synonym "Business grip" and "Pride". Yes, and these edges themselves, with antiquity belonged to Caucasian princes, very much resemble Collid – from Ardechen to the east coast turns into one solid wall of the rocks covered with thickets of pines and forest walnut, and narrow valleys are framed by picturesque villages and tea plantations. Only the Georgian border itself retreats, forming an extensive pebble beach at the village Kemalpasha (Kemalpasa).
But in the depths of the mainland you can detect a lot of interesting – Uzunil ("Long lake", The second one was managed by the landmark of the region), the nearby peaks of the Syriets (3111 m) and Khalisden (3376 m) with the chain of glacial lakes, Pass Zigan and the Ski Ski resort, stormy landscapes between the Valleys of Yetimnhodja, Fyrity and Hemsin, hot springs and many old bridges around Aidera (Ayder), as well as the most picturesque areas of green "Yayla" (mountain pastures) array Kachkar (3937 m) and numerous valleys running around both the Black Sea and in the direction of Anatolia.
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