TURKIYE: Remnants of Northern Ottoman Towns

Our next footsteps led us to the northern part of Türkiye along the Black Sea coast.

The Ottomans controlled the area since the mid 1400’s, for roughly 450 years, until WW1.

We stopped in Safranbolu, slightly inland with a well preserved old Ottoman city.

The name Safranbolu comes from saffron, which has traditionally been cultivated in the surrounding area.

By the 17th century Safranbolu had become a prosperous city as a trading and stopping point on the important East–West caravan route between Anatolia and the Black Sea, part of the wider Silk Road network.

Safranbolu is a UNESCO World Heritage site because so much of the old town, including its houses, streets, mosques, baths and markets, has survived.

 

Safranbul sits in the dry inland Anatolian valley. It has narrow, winding cobblestone streets that follow the slope of the hills instead of being laid out in a grid. 

Many of the houses are hundreds of years old and built into the hills.

The traditional Ottoman houses are mostly wooden-framed buildings with white walls, red-tiled roofs, projecting upper floors and elaborately decorated interiors. 

The old commercial area still has traditional craft streets such as Demirciler Çarşısı, where ironworking and other metal crafts are still practiced.

There are other items in the markets.

We’re traveling in northern Türkiye with Nang, our young Thai exchange student that lived with us in Houston 20 years ago. (Yes! Twenty years ago. YIKES!) She is always up for a shopping trip!

An Ottoman coastal town on Turkiye’s eastern Black Sea coast is Akçaabat, 13 km west of Trabzon. It is one of the older settlements in the region and has a long history stretching back to the ancient Greek and Roman periods.

It still has steep narrow streets, stone walls, stairways and fountains in the very wet Black Sea landscape. 

The houses, mostly 19th-century homes, typically have stone lower floors and timber-framed upper floors.

Its all about the views!

The stone walls and steep hills make it easy to keep the riffraff out.

Many were built around courtyards or gardens, with the main living areas upstairs for better light and views adapting to local Black Sea conditions and climate.

What better way to enjoy a coffee than in the shade overlooking the beautiful Black Sea coastline.

Pretty tough to resist a view like this.