Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Persia in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast. The Venetian and Genoese merchants paid visits to Trabzon during the medieval period and sold silk, linen and woolen fabric. Both republics had merchant colonies within the city – Leonkastron and the former "Venetian castle" – that played a role to Trabzon similar to the one Galata played to Constantinople. Trabzon formed the basis of several states in its long history and was the capital city of the Empire of Trebizond between 1204 and 1461. During the early modern period, Trabzon, because of the importance of its port, again became a focal point of trade to Persia and the Caucasus.
Pontus or Pontos is a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in the modern-day eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region and its mountainous hinterland by the Greeks who colonized the area in the Archaic period and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Εύξεινος Πόντος (Eúxinos Póntos), "Hospitable Sea", or simply Pontos as early as the Aeschylean Persians and Herodotus' Histories.
Karadeniz Ereğli is a city in Zonguldak Province of Turkey on the Black Sea shore. It is the seat of Ereğli District. Its population is 122,282 (2022). The mayor of the city is Halil Posbıyık. Mehmet Yapıcı is the District Governor of Ereğli.
Giresun Province is a province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Its adjacent provinces are Trabzon to the east, Gümüşhane to the southeast, Erzincan to the south, Sivas to the southwest, and Ordu to the west. Its area is 6,972 km2, and its population is 450,862 (2022). The provincial capital is Giresun. Its license-plate code is 28.
Rize Province is a province of northeast Turkey, on the eastern Black Sea coast between Trabzon and Artvin. The province of Erzurum is to the south. Its area is 3,835 km2, and its population is 344,016 (2022). The capital is the city of Rize. It was formerly known as Lazistan, however the designation of the term of Lazistan was officially banned in 1926.
Pontic Greek is an endangered variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, and the Eastern Turkish/Caucasus region. Today it is spoken mainly in northern Greece. Its speakers are referred to as Pontic Greeks or Pontian Greeks. It is not completely mutually intelligible with modern Demotic Greek.
The Pontic Greeks, also Pontian Greeks or simply Pontians, are an ethnically Greek group indigenous to the region of Pontus, in northeastern Anatolia. Many later migrated in various waves between the Ottoman conquest of the Empire of Trebizond in 1461 and the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829. Common migratory destinations included other parts of Eastern Anatolia, the former Russian province of Kars Oblast in the Transcaucasus, and the country of Georgia.
Tüfekçi is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Dernekpazarı, Trabzon Province, Turkey. Its population is 156 (2022).
Kemenche or Lyra is a name used for various types of stringed bowed musical instruments originating in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Greece, Armenia, Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. and regions adjacent to the Black Sea. These instruments are folk instruments, generally having three strings and played held upright with their tail on the knee of the musician. The name Kemenche derives from the Persian Kamancheh, meaning a "small bow".
The tulum is a musical instrument, a form of bagpipe from the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is droneless with two parallel chanters, and is usually played by the Laz, Black sea Turks, Hemshin peoples and by Pontic Greeks, particularly Chaldians. It is a prominent instrument in the music of Pazar, Hemşin, Çamlıhemşin, Ardeşen, Fındıklı, Arhavi, Hopa, some other districts of Artvin and in the villages of the Tatos range of İspir. It is the characteristic instrument of the transhumant population of the northeastern provinces of Anatolia and, like the kemençe in its area, the tulum imposes its style on all the dance and entertainment music of those for whom it is "our music".
Akçaabat is a municipality and district of Trabzon Province, Turkey. Its area is 375 km2, and its population is 129,290 (2022). It lies on the Black Sea coast, to the west of the city of Trabzon. Its elevation is ten metres (33 ft). Akçaabat is a coastal town known for its local soccer team Akçaabat Sebatspor, its kofta dish Akçaabat köfte and the Akçaabat Horonu dance. Akçaabat has hosted an international folklore festival since 1990, and it was a venue for Archery and Athletics competitions of the First Black Sea Games held in 2007.
Çaykara is a municipality and district of Trabzon Province, Turkey. Its area is 574 km2, and its population is 13,070 (2022). As of 2023, the Mayor of Çaykara is Hanefi Tok (AKP). Çaykara village lies in a V-shaped valley along the Solaklı River in the Pontic Mountains, at an elevation of around 300 metres. Çaykara district lies to the south of Dernekpazarı (Kondu) and forms the upper part of the Of-valley system, with peaks reaching to over 3300 meters. The western half of İkizdere district - which lies just east of Çaykara and is now part of Rize province - was historically also part of the same administrative and cultural region. Large swathes of the district are made up of old-growth temperate broadleaf and mixed forest, gradually making way for alpine tundra at higher altitudes.
Zilkale is a medieval castle located in the Fırtına Valley within the Pontic Mountains, and is one of the most important historical structures in the Çamlıhemşin district of Rize Province, within the Black Sea Region of Turkey.
The Pontic Mountains or Pontic Alps form a mountain range in northern Anatolia, Turkey. They are also known as the Parhar Mountains in the local Turkish and Pontic Greek languages. The term Parhar originates from a Hittite word meaning "high" or "summit". In ancient Greek, the mountains were called the Paryadres or Parihedri Mountains.
The Black Sea Region is a geographical region of Turkey. The largest city in the region is Samsun. Other big cities are Zonguldak, Trabzon, Ordu, Tokat, Giresun, Rize, Amasya and Sinop.
Gelevara Deresi is one of two main streams of Espiye, a district of Giresun province in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. Its two main tributaries arise in the highlands of Espiye district of Giresun and Torul district of Gümüşhane.
The Phrontisterion of Trapezous was a Greek educational institution that operated from 1682/3 to 1921 in Trabzon, in the Ottoman Empire, now Turkey. It provided a major impetus for the rapid expansion of Greek education throughout the Pontus region, on the south coast of the Black Sea. The building still retains its function as a prestigious highschool, and it has been considered as the most impressive Pontic Greek monument in Trabzon.
The Kemençe of the Black Sea is a Greek and Turkish traditional musical instrument. It belongs to the category of stringed bowed musical instruments. It has three strings, usually tuned to perfect fourths, usually tuned B-E-A. It is the pre-eminent musical folk instrument of the Greeks of Pontus. It seems to have been invented during the Byzantine years, between the 11th and 12th centuries. The instrument is made of different types of wood.
Siron, Ziron, Sinor or Silor is a pasta dish made with yufka, salty yoghurt, butter and garlic. Its name varies from city to city, from region to region. It is shared by Laz people, Pontic Greeks, and Turks.
Pontic Greek music includes both the folk music traditionally performed by Pontic Greeks and modern Pontic music. Song and dance have a long history in the Pontos, ranging from ancient dances to the Acritic songs to folk songs. Certain dances, accompanied by music, date to ancient times, such as the pyrrhichios. Pontic music evolved alongside Pontic dance.
