A travel guide of Turkey Black Sea Region (Pontus)

Combining a great stock of culture with unique ecotourism assets, star of the Black Sea Trabzon is gearing up for a brilliant future with new tourism investments and modern sports facilities. Sea, fish, colorful boats, nets and spectacular sunsets, each one the pith of everyday life in Faroz. And Yaroz Beach, where the lush green coast meets the Black Sea’s blue waters, is popular even on a sunny fall day. Detail of a door on Memişağa Mansion, four kilometers from Sürmene. This unique house on the shore is admired for its incomparable wood workmanship and stenciling.Gastronomy capital of the Eastern Black Sea, Trabzon boasts a rich cuisine. Akçaabat kofta, Kalkanoğlu pilaff, Hamsiköy milk pudding, Sürmene pitta, Trabzon bread, kale soup, kuymak cornmeal porridge, kaygana anchovy omelette, anchovy bread, Laz beurek… They are all extremely tasty. A commercial port throughout history, Trabzon is like a market within a market. In addition to Kazaz work and silver filigree, there is everything from gold ‘straw’ bracelets to copper wares at Kemeraltı Bazaar. And Uzun Sokak and its modern shopping centers have all the world-name brands. At Uzungöl you can wander on the damp earth amidst corn stocks as tall as a man and choose your accommodation in one of the area’s wooden houses. Another alternative is the highland hotels overlooking the misty valleys at Hamsiköy near Maçka. For those who prefer starred hotels, the city center is your stop.

WEST OF TRABZON TRAVEL SINOP, SAMSUN, ORDU, GIRESUN

PART 1: Hazelnut Country
PART 2: Stately Houses
PART 3: Texas in Turkey
PART 4: Birds, Castles, Lost Churches
PART 5: Cherrytown
PART 6: Şebinkarahisar
PART 7: Ordu to Unye
PART 8: The Flatlands
PART 9: A Historic Metropolis
PART 10: Paphlagonia
PART 11: The Tail End

We went in spring. A festival of flowers and creepy crawly things. No sign of winter’s snows. As Uzungöl native Faruk Bey put it: “It’s good you came now. If you’d waited till July or August, you’d have encountered the summer crowds and sudden downpours.” Then he adds, “One suggestion: come to Uzungöl in the fall. The crowds will have gone, the rains will have died down, and we’ll be extracting the honey fresh from the honeycomb.” Now it’s September. Time to steer our course towards the Black Sea, Uzungöl in particular. A slightly arduous journey is in store, but it’s worth it. You’ll approach Uzungöl down roads where the houses, scattered at random as if fallen from the sky, are barely visible behind a thick line of trees. So, now your eyes have adapted to the green. Wait till you see the blue!

 



Hemşin region - Kachkar Mountains Travel tips

Glacier lakes on one side, yellow rhododendrons on the other, the Kaçkars offer an inviting natural environment. Leaving Rize behind, we start our adventure through the Ayder, Lower Kavron and Upper Kavron Highlands. We woke up that day like kids on Christmas morning. Our hearts were in the Kumbet Highlands, but as our destination came alive in our mind's eye we focused on our new route. Filled with anticipation of the climb we were going to make to the Ayder Highland, where we would spend the first night, and to our final destination, the Kaçkar Mountains.The Eastern Black Sea mountains obliterate borders, bringing peoples and climates together. When you come to Mount Verçenik from Sis Dağı, you’ll realize that the strains of the three-string violin have given way to the drone of bagpipes. But the sound is the same.

PART 1: A Unique Land
PART 2: The People of Hemşin
PART 3: Migrations
PART 4: Çamlihemşin
PART 5:The Main Valley

EAST OF TRABZON TRAVEL RIZE, ARTVIN

Our road stretches now to Rize, the city for which the Black Sea highlands are known. Starting from the banks of the İyidere, it runs through endless corn fields and tea plantations to the valley of the İkizdere. Along it the town of Güneyce boasts 150-year-old wooden mosques carved like fine lace out of the wood of the chestnut tree. İkizdere, which gives it name to the valley, burbles merrily at the confluence of the Köhçer and Cimil rivers. Besides Manle Waterfall and Vane Thermal Springs, this township also has a thriving market. Hand-woven ‘keşan’ textiles decorated with claret-red patterns that the women tie around their heads, natural-dyed Turkish towels, thick woolen socks, country cheeses, tea, and wooden lecterns and butter churns are among its most popular wares. Besides Anzer Highland, famous for its honey, other highlands here include Çamlik, Puşula, Gölyayla, Cimil, Çiçekli, Mahura, Yatak, Buzluğan, Kaban and Vaşa. It’s a good idea to make Çamlik Highland, which offers accommodation, food and guide services, your headquarters for a tour of the region. The summit known as Ovit, one of Turkey’s two highest mountain passes at 2,600 meters, is crowned with a glacier lake known as Aygir.

Part 1: Tea Plants
Part 2: Markets
Part 3: Sürmene
Part 4: A Muslim Redoubt
Part 5: A Lakeside Eden
Part 6: Rize and Environs
Part 7: Lazland
Part 8: A Little Berlin

The European Union's Black Sea Region Policy

After Romania and Bulgaria entrance in to the EU, the Black Sea region has become very important for the European Union. First of all, stability and security in the Black Sea region is important for the EU. This region is also a main concern for the European Union regarding of preventing the spread of organized crime and terrorism. On the other hand, this region is an important hub for energy and transport flows for the EU. The EU is an important economic and trading partner for the Black Sea countries and makes many efforts to stimulate democratic and economic reforms and supports regional development of the whole region. In this context, “Black Sea Synergy” Programme as an EU initiative was launched in 2007, and finally in May 2009, the EU adopted the “Eastern Partnership” a plan to foster closer political and economic ties with these countries of the region.The European Union's Black Sea Region Policy

Black Sea Cuisine

Black Sea cooking continues to be one of the rare cuisines that still preserve their unique character. Characteristics of climate and geography top the list of important factors that have shaped cuisines throughout the world. Different nutritional systems emerged in different parts of the world in ages when people lived with no knowledge of each other. Today these cuisines, developed over thousands of years, are in a constant relationship of mutual influence, and the world is newly making the transition to a composite or 'fusion' cuisine. The cooking of the Black Sea is one of the rare cuisines that still preserve their unique character. For, influenced by practically no other way of cooking, it has developed a nutritional style unique unto itself in which the traditional desserts are never absent from the table. Read More

Turkey Travel tips

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Articles about Turkish Anatolian culture; Turkey Travel

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Trabzon Museum
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