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28-463: It covers an area of 4,468 ha (11,040 acres). This article about a Black Sea Region of Turkey location is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a protected area in Asia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Black Sea Region The Black Sea region ( Turkish : Karadeniz Bölgesi ) (sometimes referred to as Pontus or Pontos)

56-511: A humid subtropical climate (Cfa or Cf) under both the Köppen and Trewartha climate classifications , with warm, humid summers and cool, damp winters. As a part of the very humid southern Black Sea coast, it experiences frequent precipitation throughout the year, with a small peak in rainfall days in spring and fall. Giresun is the cloudiest city in Turkey, as well as one of the cloudiest cities of

84-570: A large community (around 25% of the population) of Christian Pontic Greeks remained throughout the Pontus area (including Trabzon and Kars in northeastern Turkey/the Russian Caucasus) until the 1920s, and in parts of Georgia and Armenia until the 2010s, preserving their own customs and dialect of Greek , the vast majority have since left, mainly to Greece. However, most Muslim Pontic Greeks remained in Turkey. The Black Sea region has

112-519: A ruined Byzantine fortress, sheltering the small natural harbor. Nearby is Giresun Island , called Aretias in ancient times, which is the only major Black Sea island in Turkish territory. According to legend, the island was sacred to the Amazons , who had dedicated a temple to the war god Ares here. Even today, fertility rites are performed there every May, usually involving the famed boulder named

140-475: A steep, rocky coast with rivers that cascade through the gorges of the coastal ranges. A few larger rivers, those cutting back through the Pontic Mountains (Doğu Karadeniz Dağları), have tributaries that flow in broad, elevated basins. Access inland from the coast is limited to a few narrow valleys because mountain ridges, with elevations of 1,525 to 1,800 meters in the west and 3,000 to 4,000 meters in

168-723: 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 . It is bordered by the Marmara Region to the west, the Central Anatolia Region to the south, the Eastern Anatolia Region to the southeast, the Republic of Georgia to the northeast, and the Black Sea to

196-488: Is a city in the Black Sea Region of northeastern Turkey, about 175 km (109 mi) west of the city of Trabzon . It is the seat of Giresun Province and Giresun District . It has a population of 125,682 (2022). Giresun was known to the ancient Greeks as Choerades or more prominently as Kerasous or Cerasus ( Ancient Greek : Κερασοῦς ), the origin of the modern name. The name Kerasous consists of

224-672: Is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see . The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople also considers Cerasus (Kerasous), together with Chaldia and Cheriana, as a titular metropolitanate in Turkey. During the medieval period, Kerasunt was part of the Byzantine Empire and later the second city of the Empire of Trebizond ruled by the Komnenian dynasty. Alexios II Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond, defeated

252-615: The Hamza Stone on the east side of the island, now shrouded as a popular practice but in reality a 4,000-year-old celebration. Cerasus in late antiquity became a Christian bishopric, and the names of several of its bishops are preserved in the acts of church councils: Gregorius at the Council of Ephesus in 431, Gratianus at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, Theophylactus at the Third Council of Constantinople in 680, Narses at

280-632: The Trullan Council in 692, Ioannes at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, and Simeon at the Photian Council of Constantinople in 879. An episcopal seal records a Leo of the 9th century, and a Michael was transferred from here to the see of Ancyra at the time of Michael Caerularius . It was the seat of a Greek Orthodox metropolitan until 1703, when the city was placed under the metropolitan of Trebizond . Accordingly, it

308-641: The Amazons and a flock of vicious birds. The Greeks of the island held out against the Ottomans for 7 years after the fall of Trebizond (modern Trabzon ) in 1461. Kerasounta became known by its Turkish name Giresun after 1923. Surviving Greeks fled to Greece after the 1923 Population Exchange founding villages such as Nea Kerasounta in Preveza , Greece . Historically, Giresun was known for producing hazelnut . As of 1920, hazelnuts covered 460 square miles of

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336-586: The Black Sea region, especially the Zonguldak area, is a center of coal mining and heavy industry . The North Anatolian Mountains in the north are an interrupted chain of folded highlands that generally parallel the Black Sea coast. In the west, the mountains tend to be low, with elevations rarely exceeding 1,500 meters, but they rise in an easterly direction to heights greater than 3,000 meters south of Rize. Lengthy, trough-like valleys and basins characterize

364-461: The Greek words κερασός (kerasós) " cherry " + -ουντ (a place marker). Thus, the Greek root of the word "cherry", κερασός (kerasós), predates the name of the city, and the ultimate origin of the word cherry (and thus the name of the city) is probably from a Pre-Greek substrate , likely of Anatolian origin , given the intervocalic σ in Κερασοῦς and the apparent cognates of it found in other languages of

392-881: The Turkmen "Koustoganes" at Kerasunt in September 1302; to secure his victory, Alexios II built a fortress which overlooks the sea. From 1244 onwards, the Seljuk Turks moved into the area, pursued at times by the Mongol hordes until in 1461, subsequent to the Fall of Constantinople , the whole of this coast was brought within the Ottoman Empire by Sultan Mehmed II . It was briefly occupied by Emirate of Hacıemiroğlu (Emirate of Chalybia ) between 1398 and 1400. Local traditions claim that Kerasunt held out for many months after

420-443: The coast, summers are warm and humid, and winters are cool and damp. The eastern part of the coast averages 2,500 millimeters annually which is the highest precipitation in the country. Snowfall is quite common between the months of December and March, snowing for a week or two, and it can be heavy once it snows. The water temperature in the whole Turkish Black Sea coast is always cool and fluctuates between 8° and 20 °C throughout

448-482: The east in Kaçkar Mountains , form an almost unbroken wall separating the coast from the interior. The higher slopes facing northwest tend to be densely forested. Because of these natural conditions, the Black Sea coast historically has been isolated from Anatolia . The mild, damp oceanic climate of the Black Sea coast makes commercial farming profitable. Running from Zonguldak in the west to Rize in

476-553: The east, the narrow coastal strip widens at several places into fertile, intensely cultivated deltas. The Samsun area, close to the midpoint, is a major tobacco -growing region; east of it are numerous citrus groves. East of Samsun, the area around Giresun is known for the production of hazelnuts , and farther east the Rize region has numerous tea plantations. All cultivable areas, including mountain slopes wherever they are not too steep, are sown or used as pasture. The western part of

504-583: The fall of Trebizon in 1461, then surrendered on terms that the Christian inhabitants could remain and retain their arms, but were required to maintain a boat for the use of the Turks on a nearby river. 4.2 km east-northeast of Kerasus is a fortified island called Ares (Αρητιας νήσος or Αρεώνησος). According to the poetic account of Apollonius of Rhodes , it was here that the Argonauts encountered both

532-464: The mountains. Rivers flow from the mountains toward the Black Sea . The southern slopes—facing the Anatolian Plateau—are mostly unwooded, but the northern slopes contain dense growths of both deciduous and evergreen trees. Most of the Black Sea region has a borderline humid subtropical and oceanic ( Köppen : Cfa / Cfb ) climate; with high and evenly distributed rainfall the year round. At

560-610: The north. Provinces that are entirely in the Black Sea Region: Provinces that are mostly in the Black Sea Region: Provinces that are partially in the Black Sea Region: The Black Sea region's population is 8,439,213 based on the 2010 census. 4,137,166 people live in cities and 4,301,747 people in villages. This makes it the only one of the seven regions of Turkey in which more people live in rural rather than urban areas. Though

588-502: The overwhelming majority is Turkish, the east of the region is also inhabited by the Laz , a people who speak a Kartvelian language which is closely related to Georgian and converted to Islam from Georgian Orthodoxy in the late Ottoman period as well as Muslim Georgians , also the Hemsin , Armenian converts to Islam, and Pontic Greeks , who converted to Islam in the 17th century. While

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616-615: The region. According to Pliny , the cherry was first exported from Cerasus to Europe in Roman times by Lucullus . Another theory suggests that Kerasous comes from κέρας (keras) "horn" + -ουντ (a place marker), due to the prominent horn-shaped peninsula that the city is situated on (compare with the Greek name for the horn-shaped Golden Horn waterway in Istanbul, Κέρας (Keras) "Horn"). The toponym would have later mutated into Kerasunt (sometimes written Kérasounde or Kerassunde ), and

644-423: The surrounding districts. Like everywhere else on the Black Sea coast, it rains (and often snows in winter) and is very humid throughout the year, with a lack of extreme temperatures both in summer and winter. As a result, Giresun and the surrounding countryside are covered with luxuriant flora. Just beyond the city are hazelnut groves, and there are high pastures ( yayla ) further in the mountains. Giresun has

672-414: The temperate latitudes; with annual sunshine of around 1,000 hours, it is more akin to far northwestern Europe. Snowfall is somewhat common between the months of December and March, snowing for a week or two, and it can be heavy once it snows. The water temperature is cool in winter and warm in summer and fluctuates between 8 °C (46 °F) and 24 °C (75 °F) throughout the year. Giresun

700-453: The word "cherry" (as well as its cognates found in other local languages) was derived from the name of the city itself, rather than the other way around. Pharnaces I of Pontus renamed the city Pharnacia after himself after he captured the city in 183 BC, and it was called by that name as late as the 2nd century AD. According to A. H. M. Jones , the city officially reverted to its original name, Kerasous, in 64 AD. The Greek name Kerasous

728-816: The year. Those who dislike the heat and humidity of the summer in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions of Turkey, escape to the plateaux of the mountains in the Black Sea region which are almost permanently cloudy and receive immense amounts of rain, and are very attractive with rich flora and fauna , forests , crater lakes , waterfalls , rivers , streams , mountain and nature walk, rafting , canoe and winter sports , hunting and fishing , grass skiing , healing water, and local dishes. 41°00′N 36°00′E  /  41.000°N 36.000°E  / 41.000; 36.000 Giresun Giresun ( pronounced [ɟiˈɾesun] ), formerly Cerasus ( Ancient Greek : Κερασοῦς, Greek : Κερασούντα),

756-417: Was Turkified into Giresun ( Ottoman Turkish : گیره‌سون ) after Turks gained permanent control of the region in the late 14th century. The surrounding region has rich agriculture, growing most of Turkey's hazelnuts as well as walnuts, cherries, leather and timber, and the port of Giresun has long handled these products. The harbor was enlarged in the 1960s, and the town is still a port and commercial center for

784-466: Was founded circa 180 BC by Pharnaces I of Pontus , who sent Greek citizens from Kotyora (modern Ordu ) to colonize the area. The name of the city was first cited in the book Anabasis by Xenophon as Kerasus. Historic records reveal that the city was dominated by the Miletians , Persians , Romans , Byzantines and the Empire of Trebizond . The older parts of the city lie on a peninsula crowned by

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