Walking Historic Trabzon: Ortahisar Citadel, Zağnos Valley and Gülbahar Hatun

Many visitors rush straight through downtown Trabzon on their way to Sumela or Uzungöl without realizing that the city's central district, Ortahisar ("Middle Castle"), is a preserved medieval island fortress. Flanked on the west by the deep green canyon of Zağnos Valley (Zağnos Vadisi) and on the east by Tabakhane Valley, this flat-topped trapezoidal rock tableland is the exact feature that inspired ancient Greek settlers to name the city Trapezous ("The Table") in 756 BC. Walking from Meydan across both medieval bridges takes two fascinating hours.

1. Ortahisar (The Middle & Upper Castles) and Fatih Mosque (Panagia Chrysokephalos)

Cross the stone arches of the historic Tabakhane Bridge west from Meydan into the walled heart of Ortahisar. The massive Byzantine and Ottoman fortification walls, rising up to 30 metres above the two valley floors, still enclose a quiet residential neighbourhood of 19th-century wooden houses, pomegranates and stone gates:

• Ortahisar Fatih Mosque (Originally the 10th/13th-Century Cathedral of Panagia Chrysokephalos): standing in the centre of the citadel, this was the imperial coronation and burial cathedral of the Emperors of Trebizond (known as the "Virgin of the Golden-Head" because its dome was once plated in gilded copper), converted into the city's Friday mosque by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror immediately after the peaceful surrender of Trebizond in 1461. Look down at the polychrome Byzantine marble floor mosaics preserved beneath the carpets.
• Kanuni House (Kanuni Evi) & Upper Citadel (İçkale / Kulehisar): Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (Kanuni) was born here in Ortahisar in 1494 while his father, Prince Selim (later Sultan Selim I), served as governor of Trabzon. Follow Uzun Sokak south up to the pointed acropolis tip of İçkale and the 13th-century Church of St Eugenius (Yeni Cuma Mosque, dedicated to the patron saint of Trebizond).

2. Crossing Zağnos Bridge to Gülbahar Hatun Mosque & The New Trabzon City Museum

Exit the western gate of Ortahisar onto the high stone span of Zağnos Bridge (originally a Roman-Byzantine aqueduct bridge rebuilt in 1467 by Zağnos Pasha), which looks straight down into the landscaped lawns, ponds and walking trails of Zağnos Valley Park. Directly across the bridge inside a shaded cypress garden stands the 1514 Gülbahar Hatun Mosque and Tomb, built by Sultan Selim I in memory of his mother Gülbahar Hatun ("Lady Rose of Spring"), alongside the comprehensive Trabzon City History Museum (Trabzon Şehir Müzesi).