Sinop

Sinop is the most beautiful natural harbor the Black Sea. There are many legends about the foundation of the city but the most dependable is that the Miletion colonists founded it in the 7^th century BC and the city is the birthplace of the cynic philosopher Diogenes. According to another legend the province is said to have received its name from the Amazon Queen "Sinova". The town's citadel dates from that early age and the foundations of the Temple of Serapis is to be found on the grounds of the Archaeological Museum where some beautiful golden icons are displayed. The 13^th century Alaeddin Mosque, the Alaiye Medresse, and the Balatlar Church are of interest in the city. Traditional nautical wood carvings, good crystal and the original cotton clothes of the city are praiseworthy and unique, so you will want to have examples of these artifacts. The seaside hotels and holiday villages will make you stay longer and you will have the opportunity to sit in a fish restaurant by the harbor and watch the perfect combination of green and light blue while sipping your wine. Hamsilos Fjord, 11 kms from the city center is the only fjord in the country.

Gerze, situated on a peninsula, 40 kms southeast of Sinop, will provide you with fine beaches, meadows, restaurants and parks, while Camgolu provides camping facilities in a large forest sloping to the sea. At Boyabat, the largest town of the province, there are many rock tombs and a citadel.

Time Line of Sinop  

A port on the Black Sea coast, about midway between Istanbul and Georgia. An ancient Greek colony, it is perhaps best known as the birthplace of the philosopher Diogenes the Cynic.

• There was an ancient city at this location which, according to old legend, had been established by the Amazons, or, according to a differing legend, had been founded by a companion of Herakles. Regardless of the mythology, an early settlement is known to have existed here in Phrygian times, perhaps having been established in the Hittite era.
• Within the Hittite Empire......................c. 1500-c. 1200
• To Phrygia.....................................c. 1200-695
• The old settlement was sacked and destroyed by marauding Cimmerians, and it was left to a group of Milesian Greeks to re-establish the community after the barbarians had disappeared...
• Milesian colony on north edge of Lydian Empire..c. 610-c. 450
• Timesialos (tyrant).............................c. 450-444
• Independent republic...............................444-362
• To Persia..........................................362-331
• To Cappadocia......................................331-322
• To Macedon.........................................322-301
• Scydrothemis (tyrant)..............................301-280
• Independent Republic...............................280-183
• To Pontus..........................................183-70
• To the Roman Republic...............................70-27
• To the Roman Empire.............................27 BCE-395 CE
• To the Byzantine Empire............................395-1071
• To the Seljuqs....................................1071-1098
• To the Byzantine Empire...........................1098-1204
• To Trabizond......................................1204-1214
• To the Rum Seljuqs................................1214-1243
• To the Persian Il-Khans...........................1243-c. 1340
• JANDAR A Ghazi state in this region based originally at Kastamonu, which annexed Sinope around 1340.
  • Yaman (Il-Khan client).......................1292-1308
  • Sulayman I (Il-Khan client)..................1308-1340
• Ibrahim I.........................................1340-1345
• 'Adil.............................................1345-1361
• Bayezid Kötörüm (in Sinope from 1384).............1361-1385 with...
• Sulayman II (in Kastamonu)........................1384-1393 with...
• Isfandiyar (in Sinope)............................1385-1393 d. 1440
• To the Ottoman Empire.............................1393-1402
• Isfandiyar (restored).............................1402-1440
• Ibrahim II........................................1440-1443
• Isma'il...........................................1443-1461
• Qizil Ahmad.......................................1461-1462
• Sinope retaken by the Ottomans from Jandar 1458.
• To Turkey thereafter...