Sinop, the northernmost tip of Anatolia, is the most peaceful, pristine and naive city of the Black Sea… The home of many civilizations since ancient times, the pearl of the north with its nature, sun and beaches, beautiful people and grace.
It is said that the name of this fine-spirited city, which Atatürk said "What would happen if Sinop was half-beautiful in Ankara", came from the beautiful nymph Sinope, who lived in this region, which was also called Paphlagonia in Antiquity. Sinop BC. Its history, which started as a Hellenic Colony in the 7th century, continued with the Hittite, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods and has reached today.
Places to visit
In Sinop, which deserves the title of "the happiest city in Turkey", it does not escape your attention that there are no traffic lights on the way to Sinop Castle. This magnificent castle overlooking the sea, BC. It is thought to have been built in the 7th century. It was repaired during the Roman, Byzantine and Seljuk, İsfendiyaroğulları and Ottoman periods and was used intensively due to its strategic importance.
An irony welcomes you in Sinop, one of the provinces with the lowest crime rate in Turkey and one of the top ten livable provinces: Sinop Prison, which has been turned into a museum in recent years, described by Evliya Çelebi as "a great and terrible castle". The castle, beaten by the violent waves of the Black Sea and surrounded by the sea on three sides, dates back to BC. It was founded in the 2000s during the time of the Gaskans. The building, which was used as a shipyard by the Seljuks, was repaired and enlarged during the Greek, Pontus, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman times. You can clearly feel the impossibility of escaping from the prison, known as the "Alcatraz of Anatolia", and that the prisoners who attempted to pay a heavy price, when you visit the still damp castle. When you leave the building, where the souls of many important names in our history are almost assimilated, by humming Sabahattin Ali's Abandoned Heart, your mood turns into a mess.
İnceburun Lighthouse, built in 1863 and with a length of 12 meters, is a brand that makes Sinop Sinop. Wait for the sunset to watch the northernmost tip of Turkey against the sound of the waves ringing on the rocks.
Hamsilos Bay, a natural wonder located at the northernmost tip of Turkey and where the heavens give their hand to Sinop, is 11 kilometers away from the city center. It is a very special place that was formed as a result of glacial erosion and shows the feature of being a ria type coast, which is only found in Norway and Sinop in the world.
Karakum Beach, which does not look like the southern beaches, is only 2 kilometers from the city center and got this name because of the black sand formed by the eruption of the volcano. Locals, on the other hand, prefer Sarıkum Beach, which is 21 kilometers away from the center, where the sea, forest and lake trio coexist, and the sand is finer, the beach is longer and wider. There are hotels, holiday villages, cafes, restaurants, bungalow-type houses, caravans and tent places around the beaches. Bahçeler Mevki, which is an area covered with forest on the side facing Akliman and the inner harbor, is among the beaches where you can swim and camp in Sinop.
The Alaeddin Mosque, which was built by Alaeddin Keykubat I in 1267 and has intricate decorations in the Seljuk style, and the Algerian Ali Pasha Mosque are among the important historical mosques of Sinop. Pasha Bastions, which is a 19th century structure 3 km away from the city center, is a historical structure that carries the architectural features of the Ottoman period and was used as a quarantine building for a period.
Aslantorun Mansion, one of the most beautiful examples of Ottoman civil architecture in 18th century Sinop and now used as the Ethnography Museum; Balatlar Church, which was built with the Byzantine construction technique; Sinop Serapis Shrine, the ruins of which are located in the garden of the Sinop Archeology Museum; Pervane Madrasa in the city center are some of the historical buildings you can see in the city.
