KARABUK TURKEY

Karabük

In addition to the naturalbeauties, provided by its nature parks, rivers, deep canyons, vast forests,caves, fragrant flowers and wildlife, Karabük is also one ofthe most intriguing places of the Black Sea Region because ofits preserved historic Safranbolu houses going back to the 17^th century,as well as its markets and cuisine.

The Yenice district, with the moststunning forests of our country, and Eskipazar, with itsancient ruins of Hadrianapolis, Ovacık and Eflani andthe natural diversity, helped Karabük to gain popularity across the country andthe world. The Bulak Cave in the Bulak Village inthe centre of the province, and the Hızar Cave in Safranbolu arelisted among the world´s most famous caves. The Plateaus ofSorgun, Avdan, Boduroğlu, Keltepe, Uluyayla, Sarıçiçek provide anopportunity for extreme sports, horseback trips, camping, climbing and othertourism activities.

Safranbolu

Safranbolu, which is suited 8km north of the centre of Karabük Province,is under conservation since 1975, and entered the UNESCO World HeritageList in 1994. The city´s name is derived from the rare saffron (Safran)plant growing in the region. Having the most outstanding examples of Ottoman architecture,Safranbolu is regarded one of mankind´s commonly shared treasures. The castle,the hamams, the bazaars, inns, mosques, the old government house, and itsunique and civil architectural buildings are the major places of interest forthe visitors of Safranbolu.

Safranbolu Hıdırlık Hill   

The HıdırlıkHill (Hıdırlık Tepesi) is an important place where the first Turks settled,held their rain prayer, and celebrated Hıdırellez. For those whovisit Safranbolu for the first time, it is recommended to have a full view ofthe whole city from the Hıdırlık Hill.

The Safranbolu Houses

Safranbolu enjoyed a great architectural development duringthe 17^th century, which also continued in the 18^th century.Encircling Safranbolu´s historic buildings, the Safranboluhouses (Safranbolu evleri) in the centre of the district consist ofabout 2,000 traditional Turkish houses, which were built in the 18^th,19^th, and the beginning of the 20^th century. About800 of these houses are under legal preservation. The houses are grouped in twoseparate sections of Safranbolu. The first section is the so-called “Şehir” section,which is used during winter, and the second one is known as the “Bağlar”, whichis used during summer. The Safranbolu houses are the most beautiful examplesof Ottoman civil architecture preserved until our era. Themansions, which are also under preservation, provide restaurant andaccommodation services.

Safranbolu City History Museum

Builtduring 1904-1906, the building suffered damage during a fire in 1976. Afterbeing restored, it serves as the City History Museum since 2006. The CityHistory Museum (Kent Tarihi Müzesi) is a cultural unit establishedwith the aim to collect and preserve all kind of information, documents,objects, visual material, audio and video recordings in order to promote andpresent the cultural, historical and social richness of the city, and tofacilitate temporary and permanent exhibitions based on these data.

Safranbolu Arasta Bazaar

Suited inthe Arasta Street in Safranbolu, the YemenicilerBazaar (the shoemaker’s market) in Safranbolu is one ofthe oldest and most interesting places to visit. The bazaar consists of 48adjacent wooden stores, offering indigenous handcrafted items, souvenirs andthe possibility to relax in various coffee shops.

Clock Tower

The Safranbolu Clock Tower (Saat Kulesi) wasbuilt in the 18^th century, whereby the clock inside the towerwas imported from England by the Grand Vizier at the time.

Safranbolu Cinci Inn and Cinci Hamam

Datedback to 1645, the Cinci Inn and the Cinci Hamam (CinciBatch) (Cinci Hanı ve Cinci Hamamı) are among the mostimportant historical structures of the city.  The bathhouse aims atoffering Turkish hamam culture to tourism in its best form.The Cinci Hamamı consists of separate sections for men and women, where bothsections are architecturally identical.

Turkish Coffee Museum

This isthe museum that tells the story of Turkish coffee utensils.They were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013, andcarried their “40-years-worth” of memories over centuries until ourtimes. In the Safranbolu Turkish Coffee Museum (TürkKahvesi Müzesi) you will find the cup from which Mustafa Kemal Atatürksipped his coffee, centuries old coffee-mills, the mortars and coffee pots aswell as covered and preserved coffee, and many special items which will shedlight on the Turkish coffee culture.

Demirciler Bazaar

The Demirciler Bazaar (Demirciler Çarşısı), which is located inthe Safranbolu Old Bazaar, has maintained its old Ottoman appearance.The bazaar is ideal for taking photos, and the hand-fashioned copper cookwareis especially remarkable.

Köprülü Mehmet Paşa Mosque

Themosque was built by one of the most important statesmen of the Ottoman Empire, GrandVizier Köprülü Mehmet Paşa, in 1661/1662.

The Sundial

The Sundial(Güneş Saati) is in the courtyard of the Köprülü Mehmet PaşaMosque (Köprülü Mehmet Paşa Cami). It is surrounded by iron bars and placedon a stone pedestal. It shows the time during the day in Arabic digits, and iscalibrated in 10-minute intervals. The sun casts the shadow of thetriangular-shaped brass gnomon, which is fixed on marble and allows reading thecorrect time. 

Izzet Mehmet Paşa Mosque

Built in1796, the mosque is regarded as a smaller version of the NuruosmaniyeMosque in İstanbul, and is comprised of a library, anablution area, two fountains, waqf stores and a small social complex.

Safranbolu Nomad Village

This “MuseumVillage” is 11km away from Safranbolu and can bereached by highway. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism placedthe village under conservation protection in 1997, as it is a real TurkomanVillage (Yörük Köyü) and also because of its stunning historicalbuildings. It is a small model of Safranbolu, and has 93 registered monuments.Its history is dated back to the 16^th century.

Bulak Mencilis Cave

It islocated within the borders of the Bulak village, about 8 km fromthe centre of Safranbolu. With a length of 6050 m, it is Türkiye´sfourth-longest cave. Only the first 400 meters are open to visitors. Thestalagmites, stalactites, travertines, small lakes and underground water wellsmake it a natural wonder. The Bulak Cave (Bulak Mağarası), which isthought to have developed over a period of two million years, and forms a largeecosystem with its living an inanimate thing, consists of 3 levels. Itsentrance section, where the wall remains indicate that it was inhabited by menin historical periods is suitable for sightseeing by everyone. The deeper areasrequire special equipment.

Eskipazar Hadrianopolis

The firstpeople living in Eskipazar are considered Proto-Hittites.The Proto-Hittites, who are one of the nations of AsiaMinor, came to Anatolia from 2000 BCE on and started thefirst political life in Anatolia by establishing city kingdoms at the foot ofthe Hisarlar. Eskipazar in ancient times was called Hadrianopolis.The ruins of the ancient city Hadrianopolis have remained near the currentEskipazar, where remnants of cellars, palace stairs, baths, shelters and waterchannels still exist. It was dominated by the Romans in 63 BCEHadrianopolis was one of the most important centres of Paphlagonia duringthe Roman and Byzantine periods.

Grand Mosque (Church of Hagios Stefanos)

Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami) (Church of HagiosStefanos) is located in the Safranbolu districtof Karabük province, in the Kıranköy Neighbourhood,on Ulu Mosque Street. It can be reached by urban transportservices. Three inscriptions have reached our era, which give informationabout Hagios Stephanos’ original name and construction history.Today there are three inscriptions above the door at the building´s westentrance. Two of the inscriptions are the same, and state the date 515 CE.

Eskipazar Rock-Cut Tombs

They arelocated in and around the ruins of Hadrianopolis (Viranşehir) atthe West of the city centre of Eskipazar. The inscriptions statethat it is from the Byzantine era.

Ovacık Rock-Cut Tombs

The rock-cut tombs (Kaya mezarları) of Gerdek Boğazı are located inthe Karakoyunlu neighbourhood of Pürçükören village withinthe valley of Soğanlı Creek. It is estimated that the tombs reachback to the 7^th century or earlier. The general view of thetomb imitates architecture of wood, using cascaded rectangles in triangularpediments. The column headings are decorated with palm leaves reminiscent ofeastern architecture.

Karain Rock-Cut Tomb, in the southwest of TheKarakoyunlu Neighbourhood of Pürçükören Village, is made up of four chamberscut into the rocks. Kayadibi Cave, in the eastern partof Karakoyunlu neighbourhood was cut into the rocks. Lion heads were found inthe tomb chamber with a horseshoe-shaped entrance.

Rock-Cut Tombs in the Archaeological Sites ofHacılarobası

Manyrock-cut tombs from the Byzantine era are located around the Gündoğan, Üçbölük, Hacılarobasıand Çavuşlar villages along the Safranbolu-Kastamonu highway.Four of the most important tombs can be found in the Hacılarobası village, andfive of them are in the Üçbölük village. This area with the Hacılarobasırock-cut tombs is a 1st degree archaeological conservation site.The tumuli, rock-cut tombs, and reliefs are the remaining evidence ofSafranbolu´s ancient history. The İnkaya rock-cut tombs aresituated in the Hacılarobası village; and the Horozoni rock-cut tombsand stones can be found between the Akveren and Yörük villages.