Trabzon Turkey
Turkey
Frequently Asked Questions
In a basin close to the centre, a few minutes from the bazaars. It's a convenient call: the merchant quarter is walkable, and only Hagia Sophia and Sümela require a vehicle.
A church raised in the 13th century by the emperors of Trebizond, decorated with frescoes of rare delicacy, about ten minutes west by taxi. It became a mosque, then a museum, then a mosque again, with the frescoes still visible in several spaces. It is the monument not to skip.
The monastery suspended on a cliff face, about 46 km south of Trabzon, an hour's drive up the Altındere valley. It is the call's signature excursion, but it takes most of the day: check the total duration and the site's opening status before booking.
Yes, and you should know it. The monastery is reached by a steep climb from the car park, over ground that can be slippery in wet weather, which is common in this region. Consolidation works have closed sections in the past: check before making the hour-long drive.
The bazaar around Kunduracilar street, then Hagia Sophia by taxi. That is the realistic plan for an ordinary call. Sümela does not fit into half a day: you must choose between the mountain and the city.
Jewellers, copper merchants and hazelnut sellers have shared the arcades since the days of the Silk Road, around Kunduracilar street. Trabzon was the maritime outlet for the caravans from Persia, and its bazaar keeps that bustle. Coppersmiths still hammer their trays in the back rooms.
Because the Black Sea region grows all of the country's tea. Everywhere, tulip glasses circulate on trays, and refusing would be very nearly a diplomatic incident. Accept: it is offered warmly and it opens a conversation better than anything else.
Künefe and baklava from the bazaar pastry shops, and, in season, the fried anchovies whose scent fills the nearby eating houses. Local cooking smells of anchovy and hazelnut: nothing like the Aegean tables of the rest of Turkey.
No, and that is its whole appeal. Nothing here resembles the Aegean coasts: the climate is green and damp, mist descends from the Pontic mountains, the hills are covered in tea plantations, and the history speaks Byzantine Greek as much as Ottoman Turkish. Ancient Trebizond was the last Byzantine empire to fall, in 1461.
June to September, but prepare for damp: the Black Sea is rainy all year and Trabzon is one of the wettest cities in Turkey. A light rain jacket beats an umbrella, especially if you're climbing to Sümela.
