Trabzon

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	==Trabzon (Port of entry)==		==Trabzon (Port of entry)==
-	[[Image:imagename.jpg|350px|thumb|right|Caption]]	+	[[Image:Turkey_Trabzon_1.jpg|350px|thumb|right|A Busy Street in Trabzon<br/>''Click for larger view'']]
	===Background===		===Background===
-	Historic details, etc.	+	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabzon Trabzon] [41° 00' N 39° 45' E] the Greek Trapezus (Τραπεζούς) was founded by settlers from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miletus Milesian] colony of Sinope, modern [[Sinop]], towards the end of the 7C BC. They were followed by emigrants from Trapezus in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadia Arcadia], who gave the foundation its name. In addition to seeking new land for cultivation, it seems likely that the settlers were also engaged in trading in metals with northern Anatolia and the Caucasus. Some authorities maintain that it was through Trapezus and Sinope that bronzes from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luristan Luristan] reached the Greek world, so helping to produce the so-called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalizing Orientalizing] period (c 720-550 BC) in Greek art.
-	Submit details about the sailing/cruising in the area, etc.	+	In the summer of 400 BC, a few days after their unnerving encounter experience with ''deli bal'', crazy honey, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophon Xenophon] and his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Thousand_(Greek) Ten Thousand] reached Trapezus. They stayed for about 30 days, camping in the Colchian villages. According to Xenophon ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabasis_(Xenophon) ''Anabasis''] IV, 8) they spent most of their time ravaging the countryside, an action unlikely to endear them to their hosts. Relations with the colonists of Trapezus were better. They gave the mercenaries presents of oxen, barley and wine. Because of its geographical location Trapezus was better-suited than either Sinope or Amisos ([[Samsun]]) to be the terminus of the long trade route from Persia and eastern Anatolia to the Black Sea.
		+
		+	Trapezus was occupied by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridates_VI Mithridates] and later by a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic Roman] army under [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucullus Lucullus], the city came through the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatic_Wars Mithridatic Wars] (88-63 BC) largely unscathed. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian Hadrian] (117-138 AD) visited Trapezus in 129 and adorned it with many buildings and ordered the construction of a large harbor. The city continued to prosper under his successors. Captured and sacked by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goths Goths] in c 260 AD, it was rebuilt during the reign of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian Diocletian]. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire Byzantine] emperor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justinian Justinian] (527-565 AD) had its fortifications extended and improved. In the 11th century Trapezus successfully repulsed the attacks of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seljuks Seljuks]. The early 14 century author of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Sir_John_Mandeville ''The Travels of Sir John Mandeville''] describes it as a "good city" where [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_I_of_Alexandria St. Athanasius], bishop of Alexandria, who wrote the psalm ''Quicunque vult'', was buried "upon the gate of the city". It was governed by Guido "of the lineage of the emperors of Constantinople," but subject to the rule of the Tartars.
		+
		+	Shortly before the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Crusade#Final_capture_of_Constantinople capture of Constantinople] by the Crusaders in 1204 the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komnenos_dynasty Grand Komneni] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexius_I_of_Trebizond Alexios] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_of_Trebizond David], grandsons of that unhappy emperor, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andronikos_I_Komnenos Andronicos I], who was torn to pieces by an enraged mob in Constantinople in 1185, founded the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Trebizond Empire of Trebizond]. Reared to manhood by their Georgian royal cousins, they captured the city in April 1204. Then, marching westward along the coast they took [[Sinop|Sinope]], and brought [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paphlagonia Paphlagonia] and the [[Eregli|Heraclea Pontica]] under their control. The 19 emperors and three empresses of their royal house ruled over a long narrow strip of land, 7000 square miles in area, which stretched along the eastern shoreline of the Black Sea. They lived in surroundings of unparalleled splendor. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Bessarion Cardinal Bessarion], who was born in Trebizond and who Iived through the last days of this Byzantine outpost, has left a detailed account of the wonders of the royal palace. He describes the myriad ante-chambers and wind-towers, the magnificent state apartments, whose walls blazed with brilliant frescoes and mosaics, and the great balcony with a pyramid-shaped roof where the emperor gave audience to ambassadors and issued instructions to the officials of his court. However, in time the strength of the dynasty was sapped by internal rivalries, which produced plots and counter-plots. Emperors perished, an ex-empress was strangled, an usurper poisoned. Trebizond acquired an unmatched reputation for decadence and intrigue. It was rumored that every form of vice was practiced by members of the imperial court.
		+
		+	The judgment of historians on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komnenos_dynasty Grand Komneni] has been harsh, but it is unlikely that the rulers of Trebizond were more cruel or more debauched than their [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(country)#Middle_Ages Georgian], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire Byzantine], or
		+	[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_EmpireOttoman] counterparts. According to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Pereira Pereira],
		+	::Their main interest seems to have been the pursuit of beauty, and their tastes were catholic: a church or a palace, a dancing-girl or a page-boy, all found favour in their eyes provided they were beautiful; they loved music and literature; and they wore splendid clothes.
		+
		+	[[Image:Turkey_Trabzon_2.jpg|350px|thumb|left|A Street in Trabzon<br/>''Click for larger view'']]
		+
		+	The end of the empire came very swiftly. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmet_II Mehmet the Conqueror], who had taken [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople Constantinople in 1453], assembled a great army in Bursa in 1461 and marched east across Anatolia. Stopping briefly to invade Sinop, which was surrendered to him without a struggle by the Muslim rulers who had seized it from the Komneni, he reached Trebizond in the incredibly short time of 18 days. At the same time his fleet of 200 ships anchored off the coast. Although some historians suggest that the city was treacherously handed over to the enemy by the Imperial Treasurer, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Amiroutzes George Amiroutzes], it seems likely that David, the last emperor of Trebizond, recognized that defeat was inevitable. He was treated generously by his conqueror. He and his family, including his handsome, sexually ambivalent nephew Alexios, were given a safe conduct to lands in the Struma Valley in the Balkans and a pension of 300,000 pieces of silver. His subjects were not so fortunate. One third were sold into slavery, one third sent to Istanbul, the rest were allowed to stay in Trebizond. David did not live long after the destruction of his empire. A letter from his niece, who was married to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzun_Hasan Uzun Hasan], the White Sheep Emir, was intercepted and shown to the Sultan by Amiroutzes. This contained an innocent request to her uncle to send one of his sons to Uzun Hasan's court. Although David was almost certainly not guilty of any intrigue, Mehmet decided to take no risks. The ex-emperor and all his sons, except a child aged three, were brought to Istanbul. There they were beheaded.
		+
		+	Trabzon had important links with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire Ottoman] court. Before he became sultan, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayezid_II Beyazid II] was governor of the city. His son and successor, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selim_I Selim I], held the same position. Selim's son, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suleiman_the_Magnificent Suleyman the Magnificent], was born in Trabzon. Under Ottoman rule the city continued to be a major center of commerce. Until the construction of the railway line between Ankara and Erzurum, in the 19th century, caravans of camels, traveling over the perilous mountain trade route, continued to bring their precious loads of silks and spices from Persia and beyond.
		+
		+	The Russians occupied the city from 1916 to 1918. The sizable and prosperous Greek population of the city, encouraged by the Russians, declared the independent [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Pontus Republic of Pontos]. After the Russians left, Turkey retaliated by deporting first the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide Armenians] and then the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontian_Greek_Genocide Greeks].
		+
		+	Modern Trabzon, although it is a bustling and fascinating town, architecturally is dreary like most towns in the region of the Black Sea. It has large concrete apartment buildings, in dreadful shape, gray, and run down.
	===Charts===		===Charts===
-	Submit the chart details that are required for safe navigation.	+	* BA 2214 The Euxine or Black Sea
		+	* BA 2236 Tirebolu to Tuapse
		+	* BA 1279 Trapzon
		+	*
		+	* NIMA 55105 Eastern Part of the Black Sea
		+	*
		+	* Turkey 141 Tirebolu- Trabzon
		+	* Turkey 1411 Trapzon Liman
	===Radio Nets===		===Radio Nets===
Line 14:		Line 39:
	Submit details of local radio Nets.		Submit details of local radio Nets.
		+
		+	===Weather===
		+	See [[Turkey#Turkey_Climate_&_Weather|Turkey]].
	===Approach and Navigation===		===Approach and Navigation===
-	Details?	+	The approaches to Trabzon are straightforward.
	===Check-in facilities===		===Check-in facilities===
-	Submit details about facilities for checking in - where to dock, etc.	+	====Trapzon Harbor====
		+	{|
		+	|valign="top"|The Harbor of Trapzon [41° 00' N 39° 45' E] is the third largest commercial harbor in Turkey. It is a very busy harbor.
-	===Marinas & Yacht Clubs===	+	You are not allowed her to anchor off as in most Turkish Black Sea harbor. The best protection is on the north-west corner near the harbormaster's office. The next best place to be is the small harbor on the south-east corner but there may be no room there. Anchor and moor either stern-to or bow-to.
-	Submit Marina details.	+
-	*	+
-	*	+
-	*	+
-	===Anchorages===	+	<font color="red">Warning:</font> While Trapzon harbor provides all around shelter, its south quay may be untenable with a strong north-east wind.
-	List details of all safe anchorages in the area.	+
-	*	+
-	*	+
-	*	+
-		+
-	===Offshore Islands===	+
-	List Islands	+
-	*	+
-	*	+
-	===Routes/Passages To/From===	+	All the officials are housed in a blue building on the north-west corner of the harbor.
-	Popular passages/routes, timing, etc.	+
		+	|[[Image:Turkey_Trapzun_h.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Chart of Trabzon Harbor<br/>''Click for larger view'']]
		+	|}
	===Tourism & things to do ashore===		===Tourism & things to do ashore===
-	List places of interest, tours, eateries, etc.	+	====Soumela Monastery====
	===Fuel & Water===		===Fuel & Water===
Line 79:		Line 97:
	===External Links===		===External Links===
-	Links to relevant websites.	+	* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabzon Trabzon] (Wikipedia)
-	*	+	* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Trebizond Empire of Trebizond]
-	*	+
	*		*

---

Revision as of 23:10, 18 December 2008

Contents 1 Trabzon (Port of entry) 1.1 Background 1.2 Charts 1.3 Radio Nets 1.4 Weather 1.5 Approach and Navigation 1.6 Check-in facilities 1.6.1 Trapzon Harbor 1.7 Tourism & things to do ashore 1.7.1 Soumela Monastery 1.8 Fuel & Water 1.9 Laundry 1.10 Grocery Stores 1.11 Eateries 1.12 Marine Stores & Facilities 1.13 References & Publications 1.14 Cruiser's Friends 1.15 Forum Discussions 1.16 External Links 1.17 Personal Notes

Trabzon (Port of entry)

Background

Trabzon [41° 00' N 39° 45' E] the Greek Trapezus (Τραπεζούς) was founded by settlers from the Milesian colony of Sinope, modern Sinop, towards the end of the 7C BC. They were followed by emigrants from Trapezus in Arcadia, who gave the foundation its name. In addition to seeking new land for cultivation, it seems likely that the settlers were also engaged in trading in metals with northern Anatolia and the Caucasus. Some authorities maintain that it was through Trapezus and Sinope that bronzes from Luristan reached the Greek world, so helping to produce the so-called Orientalizing period (c 720-550 BC) in Greek art.

In the summer of 400 BC, a few days after their unnerving encounter experience with deli bal, crazy honey, Xenophon and his Ten Thousand reached Trapezus. They stayed for about 30 days, camping in the Colchian villages. According to Xenophon (Anabasis IV, 8) they spent most of their time ravaging the countryside, an action unlikely to endear them to their hosts. Relations with the colonists of Trapezus were better. They gave the mercenaries presents of oxen, barley and wine. Because of its geographical location Trapezus was better-suited than either Sinope or Amisos (Samsun) to be the terminus of the long trade route from Persia and eastern Anatolia to the Black Sea.

Trapezus was occupied by Mithridates and later by a Roman army under Lucullus, the city came through the Mithridatic Wars (88-63 BC) largely unscathed. Hadrian (117-138 AD) visited Trapezus in 129 and adorned it with many buildings and ordered the construction of a large harbor. The city continued to prosper under his successors. Captured and sacked by the Goths in c 260 AD, it was rebuilt during the reign of Diocletian. The Byzantine emperor Justinian (527-565 AD) had its fortifications extended and improved. In the 11th century Trapezus successfully repulsed the attacks of the Seljuks. The early 14 century author of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville describes it as a "good city" where St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, who wrote the psalm Quicunque vult, was buried "upon the gate of the city". It was governed by Guido "of the lineage of the emperors of Constantinople," but subject to the rule of the Tartars.

Shortly before the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204 the Grand Komneni Alexios and David, grandsons of that unhappy emperor, Andronicos I, who was torn to pieces by an enraged mob in Constantinople in 1185, founded the Empire of Trebizond. Reared to manhood by their Georgian royal cousins, they captured the city in April 1204. Then, marching westward along the coast they took Sinope, and brought Paphlagonia and the Heraclea Pontica under their control. The 19 emperors and three empresses of their royal house ruled over a long narrow strip of land, 7000 square miles in area, which stretched along the eastern shoreline of the Black Sea. They lived in surroundings of unparalleled splendor. Cardinal Bessarion, who was born in Trebizond and who Iived through the last days of this Byzantine outpost, has left a detailed account of the wonders of the royal palace. He describes the myriad ante-chambers and wind-towers, the magnificent state apartments, whose walls blazed with brilliant frescoes and mosaics, and the great balcony with a pyramid-shaped roof where the emperor gave audience to ambassadors and issued instructions to the officials of his court. However, in time the strength of the dynasty was sapped by internal rivalries, which produced plots and counter-plots. Emperors perished, an ex-empress was strangled, an usurper poisoned. Trebizond acquired an unmatched reputation for decadence and intrigue. It was rumored that every form of vice was practiced by members of the imperial court.

The judgment of historians on the Grand Komneni has been harsh, but it is unlikely that the rulers of Trebizond were more cruel or more debauched than their Georgian, Byzantine, or [1] counterparts. According to Pereira,

Their main interest seems to have been the pursuit of beauty, and their tastes were catholic: a church or a palace, a dancing-girl or a page-boy, all found favour in their eyes provided they were beautiful; they loved music and literature; and they wore splendid clothes.

The end of the empire came very swiftly. Mehmet the Conqueror, who had taken Constantinople in 1453, assembled a great army in Bursa in 1461 and marched east across Anatolia. Stopping briefly to invade Sinop, which was surrendered to him without a struggle by the Muslim rulers who had seized it from the Komneni, he reached Trebizond in the incredibly short time of 18 days. At the same time his fleet of 200 ships anchored off the coast. Although some historians suggest that the city was treacherously handed over to the enemy by the Imperial Treasurer, George Amiroutzes, it seems likely that David, the last emperor of Trebizond, recognized that defeat was inevitable. He was treated generously by his conqueror. He and his family, including his handsome, sexually ambivalent nephew Alexios, were given a safe conduct to lands in the Struma Valley in the Balkans and a pension of 300,000 pieces of silver. His subjects were not so fortunate. One third were sold into slavery, one third sent to Istanbul, the rest were allowed to stay in Trebizond. David did not live long after the destruction of his empire. A letter from his niece, who was married to Uzun Hasan, the White Sheep Emir, was intercepted and shown to the Sultan by Amiroutzes. This contained an innocent request to her uncle to send one of his sons to Uzun Hasan's court. Although David was almost certainly not guilty of any intrigue, Mehmet decided to take no risks. The ex-emperor and all his sons, except a child aged three, were brought to Istanbul. There they were beheaded.

Trabzon had important links with the Ottoman court. Before he became sultan, Beyazid II was governor of the city. His son and successor, Selim I, held the same position. Selim's son, Suleyman the Magnificent, was born in Trabzon. Under Ottoman rule the city continued to be a major center of commerce. Until the construction of the railway line between Ankara and Erzurum, in the 19th century, caravans of camels, traveling over the perilous mountain trade route, continued to bring their precious loads of silks and spices from Persia and beyond.

The Russians occupied the city from 1916 to 1918. The sizable and prosperous Greek population of the city, encouraged by the Russians, declared the independent Republic of Pontos. After the Russians left, Turkey retaliated by deporting first the Armenians and then the Greeks.

Modern Trabzon, although it is a bustling and fascinating town, architecturally is dreary like most towns in the region of the Black Sea. It has large concrete apartment buildings, in dreadful shape, gray, and run down.

Charts

• BA 2214 The Euxine or Black Sea
• BA 2236 Tirebolu to Tuapse
• BA 1279 Trapzon
• NIMA 55105 Eastern Part of the Black Sea
• Turkey 141 Tirebolu- Trabzon
• Turkey 1411 Trapzon Liman

Radio Nets

Also see Cruiser's Nets

Submit details of local radio Nets.

Weather

See Turkey.

Approach and Navigation

The approaches to Trabzon are straightforward.

Check-in facilities

Trapzon Harbor

The Harbor of Trapzon [41° 00' N 39° 45' E] is the third largest commercial harbor in Turkey. It is a very busy harbor. You are not allowed her to anchor off as in most Turkish Black Sea harbor. The best protection is on the north-west corner near the harbormaster's office. The next best place to be is the small harbor on the south-east corner but there may be no room there. Anchor and moor either stern-to or bow-to. Warning: While Trapzon harbor provides all around shelter, its south quay may be untenable with a strong north-east wind. All the officials are housed in a blue building on the north-west corner of the harbor.

Chart of Trabzon Harbor Click for larger view

Tourism & things to do ashore

Soumela Monastery

Fuel & Water

Laundry

Grocery Stores

Eateries

Marine Stores & Facilities

Submit addresses and contact details of marine related businesses that are of interest to cruisers.

References & Publications

Publications, Guides, etc.

Cruiser's Friends

Contact details of "Cruiser's Friends" that can be contacted for local information or assistance.

Forum Discussions

List links to discussion threads on the Cruiser Log Forum

External Links

• Trabzon (Wikipedia)
• Empire of Trebizond

Personal Notes

Personal experiences?

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