Trabzon

Trabzon

Trabzon is on east black sea cost a big city in Turkey. A major trade centre since times immemorial, and visited by Marco Polo among many others,  today one of the major cities of Turkey’s northeastern coast. In medieval times, city served as the capital of Empire of Trebizond, which was ruled by Komnenos family—which also provided several emperors to the Byzantine throne in Constantinople. The longest surviving rump Byzantine state, Trabzon was captured by Ottoman Turks in 1461, almost a decade after the fall of Constantinople. At the east end of the Black Sea, the celebrated city of Trabzon was founded as a Greek colony in the 6th century B.C. and became an important mercantile and trading center.

Today’s modern city retains much of its old charm, and many parts of city offer reminders of its past. The 13th Century church of St. Sophia is one of the most notable of the Byzantine monuments and it contains excellent examples of Byzantine painting. The Monastery of Sumela, built into the side of a high cliff in the mountains outside of Trabzon, within the National Park of Altindere, is must to see..