Trabzon-Black Sea Coast -Turkey 2012

May 2012

While on our Black Sea Turkish Coast trip we visited beautiful Trabzon which has been  a major trade centre over the centuries. It is located on Caravan Trade Route known as the Silk Road which travels through Syria, Egypt, Armenia, Georgia, Lebanon and Iran. Marco Polo and many other historical characters are said to have visited Trabzon.

Amajor attraction in Trabzon is the Hagia Sophia, a beautiful and picturesque church set in lovely peaceful grounds. It was built as the Church of Saint Sofia between 1238 and 1268 but was converted into a mosque in 1496 and the stunning frescos were then covered with whitewash. The frescos were uncovered in 1964 when Hagia Sophia was turned into a  museum. It was so stunning that we took heaps of photos. 

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Hagia Sofia in Trabzon

The 40m high Bell Tower was built in 1427

 It has stunning frescos inside.

Fresco of The Last Supper

Beautiful Tiles Standing Outside  in the Grounds

The Pavement of Multi Coloured Stones 

We also visited the delightful Kiosk of Ataturk (Ataturk Pavilion/ Museum) set in manicured grounds built in 1890 by a local Greek merchant. In 1924  and 1937  Ataturk stayed in the villa during his visit to Trabzon  It houses period rooms and serves as a monument to the memory of the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey.

Inside Ataturk Museum

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Trabzon and would love to return.

Sumela Monastery-Turkey-2012

26 May, 2012

All 22 of us were looking forward to our next stop on the tourist trail with great anticipation. Our mini bus had to wind it's way high up into the Karadag Mountain to reach the incredibly spectacular Sumela Monastery which precariously clings to the cliff face at 1200m (3900').

The Sumela Monastery is a Greek Orthodox Monastery founded in 386 AD  by two priests who claimed to have found an icon of the Virgin Mary in a cave on the mountain. It is now dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is a site of great historical, religious and cultural significance, as well as a major tourist attraction. 

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The Sumela Monastery in the Amazing Setting

Throughout it's long history the Sumela Monastery has fallen into ruins and been restored several times as well as being occupied by the founding priests and their subsequent followers as well as the Ottomans, Greeks and in 1916-1918 the Russians. It was abandoned in 1923 but by 2012 the Turkish Government was funding  a restoration programme.

A Closer View

It was a long climb up to the Monastery from our drop off point but it was certainly worthwhile as the whole the scene was so picturesque and brimming with antiquity.

The "Back Yard" of the Monastery

The Inner Area

The Rock Church with Tourists!

Once again Tom did an amazing job capturing the beautiful frescos which are seriously damaged and without  any "tourist heads and bodies in the photo! The main subject of the frescos are biblical scenes telling the story of Christ and the Virgin Mary.

Fran with a few of our Group.

Just as we were about to leave  and climb down the 100's of steps through the forest to our transport, the "heavens"" opened up and soon we were all drenched. It was so treacherous on the wet steep, mossy, slimy steps  that we even forgot to take photos. By the time we reached our van we were all saturated and freezing cold!

Never-the-less we would love to visit this incredible Monastery again. If you are even in this remote corner of Turkey ensure you visit it as you won't be disappointed.

Sinop- Part 2- Turkey-2012

25 May 2012

The Sinop Fortress Prison was our next stop. The actual Fortress was constructed initially in the 7thC BC when the city was re-founded as a Greek Colony.  It was extended and repaired several times by the Persians, Romans and the Byzantines. The inner fortress was used also as a shipyard and dungeon and the oldest document showing it's use a dungeon dates back to 1568 .The walls of the fortress are 18 m high and 3 m wide and there are eleven 22m watchtowers, five of them added during the construction of the inner fortress.

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Note the Fortress Walls

One of the Remaining Watch Towers

Note the use of  Broken  Greek Columns

Sinop Fortress Prison was established in 1887 within the inner fortress of the centuries-old fortification and was  one of the oldest state prisons in Turkey. The prison was closed down in 1997 and the inmates were transferred to a modern prison newly built in Sinop. It has now fallen into disrepair but is still a tourist attraction. Tom and Fran enjoyed messing about in the old  Fortress Prison!

Sinop Fortress Prison

Fran Checking out the Cells

Tom and Fran are Released from Goal!

Delapidated Stairway

Tom in the Dungeon!

How it Looked as a Prison. We wonder about that!

Please Let Me Out!

Note the Shakespeare quotation on the wall. ( It says something about "blood, fued revenge and cleanliness) This was one of many throughout the prison.

Sinop- Part 1-Turkey-2012

24 May, 2012

On our trip to the Black Sea Coast we visited the delightful Turkish seaside port of Sinop where we visited many of the sights of interest including the museum as well as a number of mosques.

Sinop has a long history once being used as a Hittite port, a Greek colony in 7th century , a port on the Caravan Route from the upper Euphrates valley and also  became part of the Roman Byzantine Empire. It was captured by the Ottomans in 1458. There was a US military base in Sinop which was important for intelligence during the cold war era. The US base was closed in 1992.

We stayed overnight in a picturesque 4 star Anti Hotel that was a little out of town.

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Turkish Black Sea Coastline

Fran Enjoying Turkish Ayran

The Sinop Harbour

Harbourside Fish Restaurant

Colourful Boats in the Harbour

Ataturk Statue and Town Square

As usual we spent a considerable time in the Archaeological Museum (1921) which has an excellent account of Sinop's history and of the Crimean War and Russian attack which almost destroyed the city.

Byzantine Gold Coins and Vase

Amphora Unique to the Sinop Museum

Ottoman Grave Headstones

The Alaaddin Mosque, which has five domes, was built by Alaaddin Keykubad (a Seljuk Sultan) between 1220 to 1237. As you can see it was difficult to get a good photo of it because of the size and the nearness of other buildings.

Alaaddin Mosque

The Beautiful Interior

Our Guide Tash Discussing  the Features of the Mosque

We stopped for lunch on the second day at the Gol Restaurant famous not only for it's food but also for it picturesque setting beautiful gardens and view of this stunning Mosque.

Tom in the Gardens

One of the many Mosques dotted along the coastline

Samsun Entertainment-Turkey- 2012

23 May, 2012

While in Samsun we enjoyed an impromptu traditional dance performance at our Hotel. Tom was able to catch the action on the Nikon Camera.

Both these young men were professional dancers and danced so fast on some occasions that Tom and I were amazed at how well the photos turned out. (Mind you we must remember that Tom is renowned for his  wonderful photography!)

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This chap danced so fast we all became giddy!

Some of our group joined in the fun!

The following evening we enjoyed another traditional dance performance by a group of young students. The costumes were spectacular and so were some of the smiles on the young ladies faces. The boys were more sober as they concentrated on the steps of the dance.

Tash our guide discussing the wonderful traditional costumes

This young dance troup was due to travel all the way from Samsun to Marmaris to perform in the traditional dance competition there.

Note the Traditional Musical Instrument.

These lads were also going to perform in Marmaris.

We also joined in the dancing  again but it was just too difficult for Tom to capture  any special photos. An enjoyable night was had by all.