Best Things to Do in Trabzon

Trabzon combines the imperial monuments of medieval Trebizond with some of the most dramatic mountain, cave and canyon scenery in Eurasia. Here are the ten experiences that define a visit.

1. Marvel at the cliff-hanging Sumela Monastery (Meryem Ana). Founded in 386 AD inside a sacred cave 300 metres up a vertical rock face in Altındere Valley, its fully restored courtyards and 18th-century biblical frescoes are memorable.
2. Examine the 13th-century frescoes and carvings of Trabzon Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya). Built in the 1250s by Emperor Manuel I Grand Komnenos, featuring a sculpted Genesis frieze and lively Byzantine dome paintings.
3. Tour the 1903 Atatürk Pavilion (Atatürk Köşkü) and drink tea on Boztepe. Walk through cedar gardens at a white Crimea-style villa in Soğuksu, then watch sunset over the Black Sea over a wood-fired samovar of local tea on Boztepe Hill.
4. Spend a day at Uzungöl Lake and the Haldizen Valley. Walk the shoreline of a landslide-formed alpine lake at 1,090 metres surrounded by towering spruce mountains, continuing uphill to Demirkapı or Lustra.
5. Walk the underground river boardwalk inside Çal Cave and visit Hıdırnebi Yaylası. Explore one of the world's longest caves beneath a medieval castle before dining above a sea of clouds on Hıdırnebi plateau.
6. Cross the deep ravines of Ortahisar Citadel and Zağnos Valley. Walk along the medieval trapezoidal walls of Trebizond's upper and middle castles to the 1514 Gülbahar Hatun Mosque and the new Trabzon City Museum.
7. Browse copper and woven gold in Kemeraltı Bazaar and the 15th-century Bedesten. Shop for hand-beaten copper and famous Trabzon hasırı bracelets.
8. Taste bubbling kuymak cheese fondue, Akçaabat meatballs and Karadeniz pide. Experience the rich butter-and-hazelnut kitchen of the eastern Black Sea.
9. Drive over the Zigana Pass for Hamsiköy rice pudding and Karaca Cave. Combine Turkey's most ornate dripstone cavern with oven-baked sütlaç in the alpine village of Hamsiköy.
10. Take a day trip east to Rize Tea Gardens, Fırtına Valley and Ayder Plateau. Cross stone arch bridges beneath Zil Kale in the Kaçkar Mountains.