View source for Trabzon

{{Short description|City in Turkey}}
{{Redirect2|Trapezus|Trebizond|the Arcadian city|Trapezus (Arcadia)|the medieval empire|Empire of Trebizond}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement <!--more fields are available for this Infobox--See Template:Infobox Settlement-->
| settlement_type    = City
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = Turkey
| timezone           = [[Time in Turkey|TRT]]
| utc_offset         = +3
| official_name      = Trabzon
| image_skyline      = {{Photomontage
| photo1a = Trebisonda, ex-chiesa della panagia Chrysokephalos, oggi moschea fatih, esterno 01.jpg
| photo2a = Atatürkköskü - panoramio.jpg
| photo2b = Uzungöl, Trabzon.jpg
| photo3a = Hagia Sophia Trabzon.jpg
| photo3b = Trabzon,AtatürkAlani.jpg
| photo4a = Panoromik Trabzon.jpg
   | size = 280
   | spacing = 2
   | color = #FFFFFF
   | border = 0
   | foot_montage = '''Clockwise from top''': [[Fatih Mosque, Trabzon|Fatih Mosque]]; [[Uzungöl|Lake Uzungöl]]; Atatürk Square; a general view of the city centre from [[Boztepe Hill, Trabzon|Boztepe]]; [[Hagia Sophia, Trabzon|Hagia Sophia of Trabzon]]; and Atatürk's House
}}
| image_blank_emblem = Trabzon Büyükşehir.png
| blank_emblem_type  = Emblem of Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality
| blank_emblem_size  = 110px
| subdivision_type2  = [[Regions of Turkey|Region]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Black Sea Region]]
| subdivision_type3  = [[Provinces of Turkey|Province]]
| subdivision_name3  = [[Trabzon Province|Trabzon]]
| established_title  = Established
| established_date   = {{circa|756}} BC
| nickname           = City of Tale in the East
| postal_code_type   = [[Postal code]]
| postal_code        = 61xxx
| area_code          = (+90) 462
| elevation_m        = 0
| population_footnotes = <ref name=citypop>{{cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/turkey/trabzon/ortahisar/1962__trabzon/|title=Trabzon|website=citypopulation.de|access-date=23 January 2024}}</ref>
| population_total   = 822 270
| population_as_of   = 2024
| population_urban   = 330 836
| population_demonym = Trapezian, Trapezuntine, Trebizonian, Trabzonlu, Trabzonite
| blank1_name        = [[Köppen climate classification|Climate]]
| blank1_info        = [[Humid subtropical climate|Cfa]]
| blank_info         = 61
| blank_name         = [[Turkish car number plates|Licence&nbsp;plate]]|
| coordinates        = {{coord|41|0|18|N|39|43|21|E|region:TR|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_map        = Turkey#Black Sea
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Turkey
| pushpin_relief     = yes
| leader_name1       = [[:tr:Aziz Yıldırım (bürokrat)|Aziz Yıldırım]]
| leader_title1      = [[Governor]]
| leader_title2      = [[Mayor]]
| leader_name2       = [[:tr:Ahmet Metin Genç|Ahmet Metin Genç]] ([[AK Parti]])
| website            = {{URL|https://www.trabzon.bel.tr/}} <br /> {{URL|https://www.trabzon.gov.tr/}}
}}

'''Trabzon''' is a city on the [[Black Sea]] coast of northeastern [[Turkey]] and the capital of [[Trabzon Province]]. Historically known as '''Trebizond''', the city was founded in 756 BC as '''Trapezous''' by colonists from [[Miletus]]. It was added into the [[Achaemenid Empire]] by [[Cyrus the Great]] and was later part of the independent [[Kingdom of Pontus]] that challenged Rome until 68 BC. Thenceforth part of the Roman and later Byzantine Empire, the city was the capital of the [[Empire of Trebizond]], one of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire after the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2014-11-06 |title=Emperors of Trebizond |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139924450.022 |journal=A History of Greece |pages=434–435 |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139924450.022|isbn=978-1-139-92445-0 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>In 1461 it came under Ottoman rule.

During the early modern period{{when?|date=May 2024}}, Trabzon, because of the importance of its port, again became a focal point of trade to Persia and the [[Caucasus]]. Today Trabzon is the second largest city and port on the Black Sea coast of Turkey with a population of almost 300,000. The urban population of the city is 330,836 (Ortahisar), with a metropolitan population of 822,270. Trabzon has 18 districts in total.

==Name==
[[File:Trapezus.png|thumb|left|160px|Coin of Trapezous from the 4th century BC in the [[British Museum]]. The coin promotes the colonial Greek city as a 'table of plenty'.]]

The Turkish name of the city is Trabzon. The first recorded name of the city is the Greek {{lang|grc|Tραπεζοῦς}} ('''{{lang|grc-Latn|Trapezous}}'''), referencing the table-like central hill between the Zağnos (İskeleboz) and Kuzgun streams on which it was founded (''{{lang|grc|τράπεζα}}'' meant "table" in [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]]; note the table on the coin in the figure). In [[Latin]], Trabzon is called ''{{lang|grc-Latn|Trapezus}}'', which is a [[latinization (literature)|latinization]] of its ancient Greek name. Both in [[Pontic Greek language|Pontic Greek]] and [[Modern Greek]], it is called {{lang|el|Τραπεζούντα}} ('''{{lang|el-Latn|Trapezounta}}'''). In [[Ottoman Turkish language|Ottoman Turkish]] and [[Persian language|Persian]], it is written as {{lang|fa|طربزون}}. During Ottoman times, ''Tara Bozan'' was also used.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rRgYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA217 Campbell, Lawrence Dundas, ''The Asiatic annual register, or, A View of the history of Hindustan, and of the Politics, Commerce, Literature of Asia'', London 1802 Page 3, Google books link]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KNwuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA96 Malte-Brun, Conrad, ''Universal geography: or a description of all parts of the world ...'', Volume 2 Google Books]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_53iqKU0A5gC&pg=PA92|title=The modern traveller, a popular description geographical, historical, and topographical of the varieus countries of the globe|date=14 January 2018|publisher=J. Dunkan|access-date=14 January 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7DwNAQAAIAAJ&pg=PR23|title=Die Erdkunde im Verhältniss zur Natur und zur Geschichte des Menschen: oder Allgemeine, vergleichende Geographie, als sichere Grundlage des Studiums und Unterrichts in physikalischen und historischen Wissenschaften|first=Carl|last=Ritter|date=14 January 2018|publisher=G. Reimer|isbn=9783111959979|access-date=14 January 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref> In [[Laz language|Laz]] it is known as {{lang|lzz|ტამტრა}} (''T'amt'ra'') or ''T'rap'uzani'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lazuri.com/lazuri_ceviri/index.php|title=Türkçe Lazca sözlük / Çeviri / Online Çeviri / Lazuri.Com|last=Y.Dutxuri|website=www.Lazuri.com|access-date=14 January 2018}}</ref> in [[Georgian language|Georgian]] it is {{lang|ka|ტრაპიზონი}} (''T'rap'izoni'') and in [[Armenian language|Armenian]] it is {{lang|hy|[[wikt:Տրապիզոն|Տրապիզոն]]}} (''Trapizon''). The 19th-century Armenian travelling priest Byjiskian called the city by other, native names, including ''Hurşidabat'' and ''Ozinis''.<ref>Özhan Öztürk claims that Ozinis means "flat place" in Laz language and Hurşidabat means "City of the Sun" in Persian/Ottoman language. [http://www.yeniansiklopedi.com/pontus-anticag%e2%80%99dan-gunumuze-karadeniz%e2%80%99in-etnik-ve-siyasi-tarihi/ Pontus: Antik Çağ’dan Günümüze Karadeniz’in Etnik ve Siyasi Tarihi Genesis Yayınları. Ankara, 2011]. pp. 547–549 {{ISBN|978-605-54-1017-9}}</ref>  Western geographers and writers used many spelling variations of the name throughout the Middle Ages. These versions of the name, which have incidentally been used in English literature as well, include: ''Trebizonde'' ([[French language|Fr.]]), ''Trapezunt'' ([[German language|German]]), ''Trebisonda'' ([[Spanish language|Sp.]]), ''Trapesunta'' ([[Italian language|It.]]), ''Trapisonda'', ''Tribisonde'', ''Terabesoun'', ''Trabesun'', ''Trabuzan'', ''Trabizond'' and ''Tarabossan''.

In Spanish the name was known from [[chivalric romance]]s and ''[[Don Quixote]]''.
Because of its similarity to {{wikt-lang|es|trápala}} and {{wikt-lang|es|trapaza}},<ref name="DCECH">{{cite book |last1=Corominas |first1=Joan |last2=Pascual |first2=José A. |title=Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico |date=1991 |publisher=Gredos |location=Madrid |isbn=84-249-0879-1 |page=592 |edition=3rd reprint |language=es
|volume = RI-X}}</ref> {{wikt-lang|es|trapisonda}} acquired the meaning "hullabaloo, imbroglio".<ref name="RAE">{{cite book |title=trapisonda en Diccionario de la Real Academia Española |date=2019 |edition=23rd |url=https://dle.rae.es/trapisonda |access-date=24 July 2020 |language=es}}</ref>

==History==

===Iron Age and Classical Antiquity===
{{multiple image
 | width1 = 120
 | width2 = 170
 | image1 = Hermes Trabzon museum.jpg
 | caption1 = Bronze statue of [[Hermes]], 2nd c. BC, found near Tabakhane bridge in the center of Trabzon. Displayed in [[Trabzon Museum]].
 | image2 = Head and left hand from a bronze cult statue of Anahita, a local goddess shown here in the guide of Aphrodite, 200-100 BC, British Museum (8167370318).jpg
 | caption2 = Head and hand of a 2nd c. BC bronze statue of (possibly [[Anahit]] as) [[Aphrodite]], found near [[Kelkit]] to the south of Trabzon province. On display in the [[British Museum]].
}}
Before the city was founded as a Greek colony the area was dominated by [[Colchis|Colchians]] (west Georgian) and [[Chalybes|Chaldian]] (Anatolian) tribes. The [[Hayasa]], who had been in conflict with the Central-Anatolian [[Hittites]] in the 14th century BC, are believed to have lived in the area south of Trabzon. Later Greek authors mentioned the [[Macrones]] and the [[Chalybes]] as native peoples. One of the dominant Caucasian groups to the east were the [[Laz people|Laz]], who were part of the monarchy of the [[Colchis]], together with other related [[Kartvelians|Georgian]] peoples.<ref>''Phoenix: The Peoples of the Hills: Ancient Ararat and Caucasus'' by Charles Burney, David Marshall Lang, Phoenix Press; New Ed edition (December 31, 2001)</ref><ref>Ronald Grigor Suny, The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition (December 1994), Indiana University Press, {{ISBN|0-253-20915-3}}, page 45</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://timothygrove.blogspot.ro/2012_07_01_archive.html|title=A Star in the East|website=TimothyGrove.Blogspot.ro|date=23 July 2012|access-date=14 January 2018}}</ref>

The city was founded in [[classical antiquity]] in 756 BC as Tραπεζούς (''Trapezous''), by [[Milesians (Greek)|Milesian]] traders from [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]].<ref name="Bosneagu2022">{{cite book | author = Romeo Bosneagu | date = 22 February 2022 | title = The Black Sea from Paleogeography to Modern Navigation: Applied Maritime Geography and Oceanography | publisher = Springer Nature | pages = | isbn = 978-3-03-088762-9 | oclc = 1299382109 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lr9gEAAAQBAJ}}</ref> It was one of a number (about ten) of Milesian ''emporia'' or [[colonies in antiquity|trading colonies]] along the shores of the Black Sea. Others included [[Abydos (Hellespont)|Abydos]] and [[Cyzicus]] in the [[Dardanelles]], and nearby [[Giresun|Kerasous]]. Like most [[Hellenic civilization|Greek]] colonies, the city was a small enclave of Greek life, and not an empire unto its own, in the later European sense of the word. As a colony, Trapezous initially paid tribute to Sinope, but early banking (money-changing) activity is suggested to have occurred in the city already in the 4th century BC, according to a silver [[Ancient drachma|drachma]] coin from Trapezus in the [[British Museum]], London. [[Cyrus the Great]] added the city to the [[Achaemenid Empire]], and was possibly the first ruler to consolidate the eastern Black Sea region into a single political entity (a [[satrapy]]).

[[File:The Return of the Ten Thousand under Xenophon.jpg|thumb|left|Thálatta! Thálatta! ("The Sea! The Sea!").<br /> Trebizond was the first Greek city the [[Ten Thousand]] reached on their retreat from Persia. 19th c. illustration by Herman Vogel.]]
Trebizond's trade partners included the [[Mossynoeci]]. When [[Xenophon]] and the [[Ten Thousand (Greek)|Ten Thousand]] mercenaries were fighting their way out of [[Persia]], the first Greek city they reached was Trebizond (Xenophon, ''Anabasis'', 5.5.10). The city and the local Mossynoeci had become estranged from the Mossynoecian capital, to the point of civil war. Xenophon's force resolved this in the rebels' favor, and so in Trebizond's interest.

Up until the conquests of [[Alexander the Great]] the city remained under the dominion of the Achaemenids. While the Pontus was not directly affected by the war, its cities gained independence as a result of it. Local ruling families continued to claim partial Persian heritage, and Persian culture had some lasting influence on the city; the holy springs of Mt. Minthrion to the east of the old town were devoted to the Persian-Anatolian Greek god [[Mithra]]. In the 2nd century BC, the city with its natural harbours was added to the [[Kingdom of Pontus]] by [[Pharnaces I of Pontus|Pharnaces I]]. [[Mithridates VI Eupator]] made it the home port of the Pontic fleet, in his quest to remove the Romans from Anatolia.

After the defeat of Mithridates in 66 BC, the city was first handed to the [[Galatians (people)|Galatians]], but it was soon returned to the grandson of Mithradates, and subsequently became part of the new client Kingdom of Pontus. When the kingdom was finally annexed to the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] province of [[Galatia (Roman province)|Galatia]] two centuries later, the fleet passed to new commanders, becoming the ''[[Classis Pontica]]''. The city received the status of [[Free city (classical antiquity)|civitas libera]], extending its judicial autonomy and the right to mint its own coin. Trebizond gained importance for its access to roads leading over the [[Zigana Pass]] to the Armenian frontier or the upper [[Euphrates]] valley. New roads were constructed from [[Persian Empire|Persia]] and [[Mesopotamia]] under the rule of [[Vespasian]]. In the next century, the emperor [[Hadrian]] commissioned improvements to give the city a more structured harbor.<ref name=Miller-9>[[William Miller (historian)|William Miller]], ''Trebizond: The Last Greek Empire'', 1926, (Chicago: Argonaut Publishers, 1968), p. 9</ref> The emperor visited the city in the year 129 as part of his inspection of the eastern border ([[Limes (Roman Empire)|limes]]). A [[mithraeum]] now serves as a crypt for the church and monastery of Panagia Theoskepastos (''Kızlar Manastırı'') in nearby Kizlara, east of the citadel and south of the modern harbor.

[[File:Aquila, Valerian, Eugene and Candidus of Trebizond (Menologion of Basil II).jpg|thumb|left|Martyrdom of Eugenius, Candidius, Valerian, and Aquila. Work dated to 985, [[Vatican Library]].]][[File:Trabzon City walls and Aquaduct.JPG|thumb|Parts of the [[Walls of Trabzon|city walls of Trabzon]] and the Eugenius Aqueduct are among the oldest remaining structures in the city.]]

[[Septimius Severus]] punished Trebizond for having supported his rival [[Pescennius Niger]] during the [[Year of the Five Emperors]]. In 257 the city was pillaged by the [[Goths]], despite reportedly being defended by "10,000 above its usual garrison" and two bands of walls.<ref name=Miller-9/> {{anchor|258 sack}} Trebizond was subsequently rebuilt, pillaged again, by the [[Sasanian Empire|Persians]], in 258, and then rebuilt once more. It did not soon recover. Only in the reign of [[Diocletian]] does an inscription allude to the restoration of the city; [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] had nothing to say of Trebizond except that it was "not an obscure town." 

[[Christianity]] had reached Trebizond by the third century, for during the reign of Diocletian occurred the martyrdom of [[Eugenius of Trebizond|Eugenius]] and his associates Candidius, Valerian, and Aquila.<ref>Miller, ''Trebizond'', p. 10</ref> Eugenius had destroyed the statue of [[Mithras]] which overlooked the city from [[Mount Minthrion]] (Boztepe), and became the patron saint of the city after his death. Early Christians sought refuge in the Pontic Mountains south of the city, where they established [[Vazelon Monastery]] in 270 AD and [[Sumela Monastery]] in 386 AD. As early as the [[First Council of Nicea]], Trebizond had its own bishop.<ref name="Hewsen46">Hewsen, 46</ref> Subsequently, the Bishop of Trebizond was subordinated to the [[Metropolitan Bishop]] of [[Poti]].<ref name="Hewsen46" /> Then during the 9th century, Trebizond itself became the seat of the Metropolitan Bishop of [[Lazica]].<ref name="Hewsen46" />

===Byzantine period===
{{Main|Chaldia}}
{{multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| align             = right
| width1            = 220
| width2            = 220
| image1            = Hagia Anna Trabzon.JPG
| caption1          = [[Saint Anne Church, Trabzon|Saint Anne Church]], to the east of the walled city, is the oldest church in the city, possibly dating back to the 6th or 7th century.
| image2            = Trebisonda, ex-chiesa della panagia Chrysokephalos, oggi moschea fatih, esterno 01.jpg
| caption2          = The 10th-century cathedral Panaghia Chrysokephalos (now [[Fatih Mosque, Trabzon|Fatih Mosque]]), the most impressive Byzantine building in the city
}}

By the time of [[Justinian]], the city served as an important base in his Persian Wars, and Miller notes that a portrait of the general [[Belisarius]] "long adorned the church of St. Basil."<ref name=Miller-11>Miller, ''Trebizond'', p. 11</ref> An inscription above the eastern gate of the city, commemorated the reconstruction of the civic walls at Justinian's expense following an earthquake.<ref name=Miller-11/> At some point before the 7th century the university (Pandidakterion) of the city was reestablished with a [[quadrivium]] curriculum. The university drew students not just from the [[Byzantine Empire]], but from Armenia as well.<ref>Calzolari, V. "The Armenian translation of the Greek Neoplatonic Works" in ''Greek Texts and Armenian Traditions: An Interdisciplinary Approach'', 2016, p. 51</ref><ref> History of Trebizond, Virtual Genocide Memorial [https://virtual-genocide-memorial.de/region/the-black-sea-marmara-and-aegean-littorals-eastern-thrace-and-central-anatolia/trabzon-trapezounta-trebizond-vilayet-province/] </ref>

The city regained importance when it became the seat of the theme of [[Chaldia]]. Trebizond also benefited when the trade route regained importance in the 8th to 10th centuries; 10th-century Muslim authors note that Trebizond was frequented by Muslim merchants, as the main source transshipping [[Byzantine silk]]s into eastern Muslim countries.<ref>R.B. Serjeant, ''Islamic Textiles: material for a history up to the Mongol conquest'', 1972, pp 63, 213, noted by David Jacoby, "Silk Economics and Cross-Cultural Artistic Interaction: Byzantium, the Muslim World, and the Christian West", ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'' '''58''' (2004:197–240)  p. 219 note 112.</ref> According to the 10th century [[Arabs|Arab]] geographer [[Abu'l-Fida|Abul Feda]] it was regarded as being largely a [[Lazica|Lazian]] port. The Italian maritime republics such as the [[Republic of Venice]] and in particular the [[Republic of Genoa]] were active in the Black Sea trade for centuries, using Trebizond as an important seaport for trading goods between Europe and Asia.<ref name="latorio">{{cite book|author=William Miller |title=The Latin Orient |year=2009 |pages=51–54 |publisher=Bibliobazaar LLC|isbn=978-1-110-86390-7}}</ref> Some of the [[Silk Road]] caravans carrying goods from Asia stopped at the port of Trebizond, where the European merchants purchased these goods and carried them to the port cities of Europe with ships. This trade provided a source of revenue to the state in the form of custom duties, or ''kommerkiaroi'', levied on the goods sold in Trebizond.<ref>Speros Vryonis, ''The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century'' (Berkeley: University of California, 1971), p. 16</ref> The Greeks protected the coastal and inland trade routes with a vast network of garrison forts.<ref>Robert W. Edwards, "The Garrison Forts of the Pontos: A Case for the Diffusion of the Armenian Paradigm", ''Revue des Études Arméniennes'' 19, 1985, pp.181–284.</ref>

Following the [[Byzantine]] defeat at the [[Battle of Manzikert]] in 1071, Trebizond came under [[Seljuk Turks|Seljuk]] rule. This rule proved transient when an expert soldier and local aristocrat, [[Theodore Gabras]] took control of the city from the Turkish invaders, and regarded Trebizond, in the words of [[Anna Comnena]], "as a prize which had fallen to his own lot" and ruled it as his own kingdom.<ref>Miller, ''Trebizond'', p. 12</ref> Supporting Comnena's assertion, [[Simon Bendall]] has identified a group of rare coins he believes was minted by Gabras and his successors.<ref>Bendall, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/42666585  "The Mint of Trebizond under Alexius I and the Gabrades"], ''Numismatic Chronicle'', Seventh Series, '''17''' (1977), pp. 126–136</ref> Although he was killed by the Turks in 1098, other members of his family continued his de facto independent rule into the next century.

===Empire of Trebizond===
{{Main|Empire of Trebizond}}

The [[Empire of Trebizond]] was formed after a [[Byzantine–Georgian wars#Georgian expedition to Chaldia and the founding of the Trebizond Empire|Georgian expedition in Chaldia]],<ref>A. A. Vasiliev, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2846872 "The Foundation of the Empire of Trebizond (1204–1222)"], ''Speculum'', '''11''' (1936), pp. 18f</ref> commanded by [[Alexios I of Trebizond|Alexios]] [[Komnenos]] a few weeks before the [[Fourth Crusade|sack of Constantinople]] in 1204. Located at the far northeastern corner of [[Anatolia]], it was the longest surviving of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] successor states. Byzantine authors, such as [[George Pachymeres|Pachymeres]], and to some extent Trapezuntines such as [[John Lazaropoulos|Lazaropoulos]] and [[Basilios Bessarion|Bessarion]], regarded the Trebizond Empire as being no more than a [[Lazica|Lazian]] border state. Thus, from the point of view of the Byzantine writers connected with the [[Laskaris|Lascaris]] and later with the [[Palaiologos]], the rulers of Trebizond were not emperors.<ref name=":0">Finlay, George. The History Of Greece From Its Conquest By The Crusaders To Its Conquest By The Turks And Of The Empire Of Trebizond, 1204–1461, By George Finlay. 1st ed. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood and sons, 1851. Print.</ref><ref name=":1">Vasilev, A. A. The Foundation Of The Empire Of Trebizond 1204–1222. 1st ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Medieval Academy of America, 1936. Print.</ref>

{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | align = left
 | width1 = 220
 | width2 = 220
 | image1 = Hagia Sophia Trabzon.jpg
 | caption1 = [[Hagia Sophia, Trabzon|Hagia Sophia]]<br />(now Ayasofya mosque & museum)
 | image2 = Hagios Eugenios Trabzon 2.JPG
 | caption2 = Hagios Eugenios<br />(now [[New Friday Mosque|Yeni Cuma Mosque]])
 | footer = The young empire required new buildings to honor its name. Their architectural style differs from previous Byzantine architecture, while still retaining many features. Caucasian and Eastern Anatolian influences are especially evident in Hagia Sophia.
}}

[[File:Fresco of Comneni at Agia Theotokos, Trebizond..jpg|thumb|Fresco of Alexios III between his wife and mother at the [[Panagia Theoskepastos Monastery]], as drawn by [[Charles Texier]]]]
Geographically, the Empire of Trebizond consisted of little more than a narrow strip along the southern coast of the [[Black Sea]], and not much further inland than the [[Pontic Mountains]]. However, the city gained great wealth from the taxes it levied on the goods traded between Persia and Europe via the Black Sea. The Mongol [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|siege of Baghdad]] in 1258 diverted more trade caravans towards the city. Genoese and to a lesser extent Venetian traders regularly came to Trebizond. To secure their part of the Black Sea trade, the Genoese bought the coastal fortification "Leonkastron", just west of the winter harbour, in the year 1306. The Venetians likewise built a trading outpost in the city, a few hundred meters to the west of the Genoese. In between these two Italian colonies settled many other European traders, and it thus became known as the "European Quarter". Small groups of Italians continued to live in the city until the early decades of the 20th century. One of the most famous persons to have visited the city in this period was [[Marco Polo]], who ended his overland return journey at the port of Trebizond, and sailed to his hometown [[Venice]] with a ship; passing by [[Constantinople]] ([[Istanbul]]) on the way, which was retaken by the [[Byzantine]]s in 1261.

[[File:Pisanello - St George and the Princess of Trebizond (detail) - WGA17878.jpg|thumb|right|Fantastical depiction of Trebizond by [[Pisanello]] in a fresco of the [[Sant'Anastasia (Verona)|Sant'Anastasia]] church in [[Verona]], painted between 1436 and 1438]]
Together with Persian goods, Italian traders brought stories about the city to Western Europe. Trebizond played a mythical role in European literature of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. [[Miguel de Cervantes]] and [[François Rabelais]] gave their protagonists the desire to possess the city.<ref>'The lure of Trebizond' by [[Antony Eastmond]], in ''Byzantium's Other Empire: Trebizond'', p. 22, 2016, Istanbul</ref> Next to literature, the legendary history of the city – and that of the Pontus in general – also influenced the creation of [[paintings]], [[Play (theatre)|theatre plays]] and [[operas]] in Western Europe throughout the following centuries.

The city also played a role in the early [[Renaissance]]; the western takeover of Constantinople, which formalized Trebizond's political independence, also led Byzantine intellectuals to seek refuge in the city. Especially [[Alexios II of Trebizond]] and his grandson [[Alexios III of Trebizond|Alexios III]] were patrons of the arts and sciences. After the great city fire of 1310, the ruined university was reestablished. As part of the university [[Gregory Choniades]] opened a new academy of astronomy, which housed the best observatory outside Persia. Choniades brought with him the works of Shams al-Din al-Bukhari,<ref>[http://islamsci.mcgill.ca/RASI/BEA/Shams_al-Din_al-Bukhari_BEA.htm "Shams al‐Dīn al‐Bukhārī"]. Thomas Hockey et al. (eds.). ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers''.  New York: Springer, 2007, pp. 1047–1048. Retrieved 12 January 2018.</ref> [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]] and [[Al-Khazini|Abd al-Rahman al-Khazini]] from Tabriz, which he translated into Greek. These works later found their way to western Europe, together with the [[astrolabe]]. The observatory Choniades built would become known for its accurate [[solar eclipse]] predictions, but was probably used mostly for [[astrology|astrological]] purposes for the emperor and/or the church.<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/29570856/Astronomy_in_the_Trebizond_Empire Astronomy in the Trebizond Empire] Ahmet M. Zehiroğlu (trans. by Paula Darwish). from Trabzon İmparatorluğu 2016, Trabzon.</ref> Scientists and philosophers of Trebizond were among the first western thinkers to compare contemporaneous theories with classical Greek texts. [[Basilios Bessarion]] and [[George of Trebizond]] travelled to Italy and taught and published works on [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]], starting a fierce debate and literary tradition that continues to this day on the topic of national identity and [[global citizenship]]. They were so influential that Bessarion was considered for the position of [[Pope]], and George could survive as an academic even after being defamed for his heavy criticism of Plato.

The [[Black Death]] arrived at the city in September 1347, probably via [[Kaffa (city)|Kaffa]]. At that time the local aristocracy was engaged in the [[Trapezuntine Civil War]].

In 1340, Tur Ali Beg, an early ancestor of the [[Aq Qoyunlu]], raided Trebizond. In 1348, he besieged Trebizond, however he failed and lifted the siege. Later on, [[Alexios III of Trebizond]] gave his sister to [[Qutlugh bin Tur Ali|Kutlu Beg]] son of Tur Ali Beg, and established a kinship with them.<ref name=faruk1>{{TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi|title=AKKOYUNLULAR XV. yüzyılda Doğu Anadolu, Azerbaycan ve Irak’ta hüküm süren Türkmen hânedanı (1340-1514).|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/akkoyunlular|author=Faruk Sümer}}</ref>

Constantinople remained the Byzantine capital until it was [[Fall of Constantinople|conquered]] by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Sultan [[Mehmed II]] in 1453, who also [[Siege of Trebizond (1461)|conquered Trebizond]] eight years later, in 1461.

Its demographic legacy endured for several centuries after the Ottoman conquest in 1461, as a substantial number of [[Greek Orthodox]] inhabitants, usually referred to as [[Pontic Greeks]], continued to live in the area during Ottoman rule, up until 1923, when they were deported to Greece. A few thousand [[Greek Muslims]] still live in the area, mostly in the [[Çaykara]]-[[Of, Turkey|Of]] dialectical region to the southeast of Trabzon.<!--Use modern name here!--> Most are Sunni Muslim, while there are some recent converts in the city{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} and possibly a few [[Crypto-Christians]] in the [[Tonya, Turkey|Tonya]]/[[Gümüşhane]] area to the southwest of the city. Compared to most previously Greek cities in Turkey, a large amount of its Greek Byzantine architectural heritage survives as well.

{{wide image|Cassone Conquest of Trebizond Apollonio di Giovanni di Tomaso.png|900px|The [[Cassone]] with the 'Conquest of Trebizond' by [[Apollonio di Giovanni di Tomaso]], on display at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in New York. Painted just after the fall of the city, it depicts Trebizond<!--Old name--> as being equal to [[Constantinople]] (at the far left). Even the battle displayed in between the two cities was mostly a fantasy. The city held a legendary place in Western European literature and thought throughout the late medieval period and the renaissance, with a lasting influence that can be felt even to present times.}}

===Ottoman era===
{{Main|Trebizond Eyalet|Trebizond Vilayet}}
{{multiple image
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 | align = right
 | width1 = 240
 | width2 = 240
 | image1 =Trebizond map.jpg
 | caption1 = The first known plan of Trebizond<!--Use old name-->, drawn around 1604–1610 by Julien Bordier. Many characteristics of the city can be recognized: the two streams dividing the central core, the separately walled quarters, the Genoese town next to the winter harbour, Haghia Sophia at the bottom right, and [[Boztepe hill, Trabzon|Boztepe hill]] at the top left.
 | image2 = Trebisonde (Relation d un voyage du Levant).jpg
 | caption2 = The first city-view of Trebizond<!--Use old name-->, published by [[Joseph Pitton de Tournefort]] after a drawing by himself or his assistant [[Claude Aubriet]] during a visit in 1701. The view shows the city from Haghia Sophia in the distance all the way to the winter harbour. The drawing was made from Boztepe, which is still the most popular place to view the city. 
}}
The last Emperor of Trebizond, [[David of Trebizond|David]], surrendered the city to Sultan [[Mehmed II]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1461.<ref name=Prothero23>{{cite book|last=Prothero|first=G.W.|title=Anatolia|year=1920|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|location=London|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11766/view/1/23/}}</ref> Following this takeover, Mehmed II sent many Turkish settlers into the area, but the old ethnic [[Greeks|Greek]], [[Laz people|Laz]] and [[Armenians|Armenian]] communities remained. According to the Ottoman tax books (''[[tahrir defterleri]]''), the total population of taxable adult males (only those with a household) in the city was 1,473 in the year 1523.<ref name="Modern Times page 27/28">''The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times'', Richard G. Hovannisian, page 27/28, 2004</ref> The total population of the city was much higher. Approximately 85% of the population was Christian, and 15% Muslim. Thirteen percent of the adult males belonged to the Armenian community, while the vast majority of Christians were Greeks.<ref name="Modern Times page 27/28"/> However, a significant portion of the local Christians were [[Islamization|Islamized]] by the end of the 17th century - especially those outside the city - according to a research by Prof. [[Halil İnalcık]] on the Ottoman tax books (''[[tahrir defterleri]]''). Between 1461 and 1598 Trabzon remained the administrative center of the wider region; first as 'sanjac center' of [[Rum Eyalet]], later of [[Erzincan-Bayburt eyalet]], [[Anadolu Eyalet]], and [[Erzurum Eyalet]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ofhayrat.com/news_print.php?id=4895|title=Haber Yazdır : Trabzon'un fethi araştırmaları ve 15 ağustos 1461 – Of hayrat haberleri|website=www.OfHayrat.com|access-date=14 January 2018}}</ref>

In 1598 it became the capital of its own province - the [[Trebizond Eyalet|Eyalet of Trebizond]] - which in 1867 became the [[Trebizond Vilayet|Vilayet of Trebizond]]. During the reign of Sultan [[Bayezid II]], his son [[Selim I|Prince Selim]] (later Sultan [[Selim I]]) was the [[Sanjak-bey]] of Trabzon, and Selim I's son [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] was born in Trabzon in 1494. The Ottoman government often appointed local [[Chepni people|Chepni Turks]] and [[Laz people|Laz]] [[bey]]s as the regional [[beylerbey]].{{citation needed|date=June 2017}} It is also recorded that some [[Bosniaks]] were appointed by the [[Sublime Porte]] as the regional beylerbeys in Trabzon.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}} The Eyalet of Trabzon had always sent troops for the [[Ottoman wars in Europe|Ottoman campaigns in Europe]] during the 16th and 17th centuries.

{{multiple image
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 | image1 =Meydan Trebizond.jpg
 | caption1 = Trebizond<!--Use old name--> ''Meydan'' around 1868, [[Dmitri Ivanovich Yermakov]]
 | image2 = Public funeral in Trebizond.jpg
 | caption2 =Men and woman gathered for the funeral of an Armenian cleric. Hatchik Tcholakian, 1892.
}}

Trebizond<!--Use old name--> had a wealthy merchant class during the late Ottoman period, and the local Christian minority had a substantial influence in terms of culture, economy and politics. A number of European consulates were opened in the city due to its importance in regional trade and commerce. In the first half of the 19th century, Trebizond even became the main port for Persian exports. The opening of the [[Suez Canal]] greatly diminished the international trading position of the city, but did not halt the economic development of the region. In the last decades of the 19th century, the city saw some demographic changes. As the population of the province greatly expanded due to increased living standards, many families and young men - mostly [[Christians]], but also some Jews and Greek or Turkish speaking Muslims - chose to migrate to the Crimea and southern Ukraine, in search for farmland or employment in one of the cities which had been newly established there. Among these migrants were the grandparents of [[Bob Dylan]]<ref>{{Cite book|first=Howard|last=Sounes|title=Down The Highway: The Life Of Bob Dylan|publisher=Grove Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0-8021-1686-4|url=https://archive.org/details/downhighwaylifeo0000soun}} At pages 12-13.</ref> and Greek politicians and artists. Many Christian and Muslim families from Trabzon also moved to Constantinople, where they established businesses or sought employment - such as the grandfather of [[Ahmet Ertegün]]. These migrants were active in a wide range of trades including baking, confection, tailoring, carpentry, education, advocacy, politics and administration. The influence of this diaspora has since continued, and can still be seen in the many restaurants and shops in cities around the Black Sea in the 21st century such as in Istanbul, [[Odesa]] and [[Mariupol]]. At the same time, thousands of Muslim refugees from the Caucasus arrived in the city, especially after 1864, in what is known as the [[Circassian genocide]].

Next to Constantinople, [[Smyrna]] (now [[İzmir]]) and Salonika<!--In English, it was called Salonika--> (now [[Thessaloniki]]), Trebizond was one of the cities where western cultural and technological innovations were first introduced to the Ottoman Empire. In 1835, the [[American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions]] opened the Trebizond Mission station that it occupied from 1835 to 1859 and from 1882 to at least 1892.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rev. M. P. Parmalee|title=Proceedings of the ABCFM for the year 1892|date=1892|publisher=Samuel Usher|location=Boston|page=229|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z8sWAQAAIAAJ&q=%22P.+O.+Powers%22+%22G.+W.+Wood%22&pg=PA229|access-date=1 May 2017|quote=Trebizond was occupied as a missionary station in 1835... The following is a list of missionaries who have been connected with the station for at least one year:  ... Rev. [[George Warren Wood|G. W. Wood]], 1842 – 1843"}}</ref>  Hundreds of schools were constructed in the province during the first half of the 19th century, giving the region one of the highest literacy rates of the empire. First, the Greek community set up their schools, but soon the Muslim and Armenian communities followed. International schools were also established in the city; An American school, five French schools, a Persian school and a number of Italian schools were opened in the second half of the 19th century.<ref>[https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/68645/03.pdf The constitutional revolution of 1908 and its aftermath in Trabzon] Ahmetoglu, S., 2019, p.127-128, Doctoral Thesis, Leiden University</ref> The city got a post office in 1845. New churches and mosques were built in the second half of the 19th century, as well as the first theater, public and private printing houses, multiple photo studios and banks. The oldest known photographs of the city center date from the 1860s and depict one of the last [[camel train]]s from Persia.

Between one and two thousand Armenians are believed to have been killed in the Trebizond [[vilayet]] during the [[Hamidian massacres]] of 1895. While this number was low in comparison to other Ottoman provinces, its impact on the Armenian community in the city was large. Many prominent Armenian residents, among them scholars, musicians, photographers and painters, decided to migrate towards the Russian Empire or France. The large Greek population of the city was not affected by the massacre.<ref>Rev. Edwin Munsell Blis on the Hamidian Massacres in 'Modern Genocide: The Definitive Resource and Document Collection', 2014, p. 147, Paul R. Bartrop & Steven Leonard Jacobs (eds)</ref> [[Ivan Aivazovsky]] made the painting ''Massacre of the Armenians in Trebizond 1895'' based on the events.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Davidian, Vazken Khatchig|url=https://journals.openedition.org/eac/1815|title=Image of an Atrocity: Ivan (Hovhannes) Aivazovsky's ''Massacre of the Armenians in Trebizond 1895''|journal=[[Études Arméniennes Contemporaines]]|year=2018|issue=11|pages=40–73|doi=10.4000/eac.1815|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Due to the high number of Western Europeans in the city, news from the region was being reported on in many European newspapers. These western newspapers were in turn also very popular among the residents of the city.

{{clear}}
'''Ottoman era paintings and drawings of Trebizond'''
<gallery>
File:Ivan Aivazovsky Trebizond 1865.jpg|Trebizond from the sea by [[Ivan Aivazovsky]]
File:Harbour Trebizond C. Lapante HQ.jpg|Engraving of the port at Çömlekçi by C. Lapante
File:Durand-Brager 3.jpg|Trebizond by [[Jean-Baptiste Henri Durand-Brager]]
File:Port of Trebizond Y.M. Tadevossian.jpg|Trebizond from the sea by [[Yeghishe Tadevosyan]]
File:Trebizond Godfrey Thomas Vigne (1833).jpg|Trebizond from the south by [[Godfrey Vigne]]
File:Quarantine station at Trebizond by Jules Laurens.jpg|The quarantine station by [[Jules Laurens]]
File:Trebizond 'East town' 1922.jpg|Street view by [[Nikolay Lanceray]]
</gallery>
{{wide image|Trebizond lithograph.jpg|900px|Lithograph of Trebizond<!--old name--> from the sea by the [[Lowes Cato Dickinson|Dickinson Brothers]] of London, 1853. It shows the city from 'Khonsi point' at the left to Platana (Akçaabat) at the right. This is the first impression most European travellers got of the city (in good weather) until the second half of the 20th century.}}

===Modern era===
{{multiple image
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| image1            = Scene in a theatre in Trebizond.jpg
| caption1          = A theater performance in Trebizond<!--Use old name until circa 1930--> c. 1900
| image2            = Philharmonic orchestra of Trebizond (cropped).jpg
| caption2          = The Philharmonic orchestra of Trebizond
| image3            = Acriteon Hospital Trebizond.jpg
| caption3          = Operating room of the Acriteon Hospital
}}

In 1901 the harbour was equipped with cranes by [[Stothert & Pitt]] of [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] in England. In 1912 the Sümer Opera House was opened on the central Meydan square, being one of the first in the empire. The start of the [[First World War]] brought an abrupt end to the relatively peaceful and prosperous period the city had seen during the previous century. First Trebizond would lose many of its young male citizens at the [[Battle of Sarikamish]] in the winter of 1914–15, while during those same months the Russian navy bombarded the city a total of five times, taking 1300<ref>Daniel Maldonado in 'Historic Cities of the Islamic World', 2007, p. 525, C. Edmund Bosworth (ed)</ref>  lives. Especially the port quarter Çömlekçi and surrounding neighborhoods were targeted.

In July 1915 most of the adult male Armenians of the city were marched off south in five convoys, towards the mines of Gümüşhane, never to be seen again. Other victims of the [[Armenian genocide]] were reportedly taken out to sea in boats which were then capsized.<ref>''Toronto Globe'', August 26, 1915.</ref><ref>''Takvimi Vekdyi'', No. 3616, August 6, 1919, p. 2.</ref> In some areas of Trebizond province - such as the Karadere river valley in modern-day [[Araklı]], 25 kilometers east of the city - the local Muslim population tried to protect the Christian Armenians.<ref>[https://virtual-genocide-memorial.de/region/the-black-sea-marmara-and-aegean-littorals-eastern-thrace-and-central-anatolia/trabzon-trapezounta-trebizond-vilayet-province/sancak-lazistan-rizounta-%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%B6%CE%BF%CF%8D%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B1-rize/kaza-hemsin-hamshen/ KAZA HEMŞIN / ՀԱՄՇԷՆ – HAMSHEN] Virtual genocide memorial</ref>

The coastal region between the city and the Russian frontier became the site of key battles between the Ottoman and [[Russian Empire|Russian]] armies during the [[Trebizond Campaign]], as part of the [[Caucasus Campaign]] of World War I. The Russian army landed at [[Pazar, Rize|Atina]], east of Rize on March 4, 1916. [[Lazistan Sanjak]] fell within two days. However, due to heavy guerrilla resistance around Of and Çaykara some 50&nbsp;km to the east of Trabzon, it took a further 40 days for the Russian army to advance west.<ref>Infographic by the newspaper ''[[The Sphere (newspaper)|The Sphere]]'' showing the advance of the Russian front on Trebizond, The Sphere, April 29, 1916</ref> The Ottoman administration of Trabzon foresaw the fall of the city and called for a meeting with community leaders, where they handed control of the city to Greek metropolitan bishop [[Archbishop Chrysanthus of Athens|Chrysantos Philippidis]]. 

Chrysantos promised to protect the Muslim population of the city. Ottoman forces retreated from Trabzon, and on April 15 the city was taken without a fight by the [[Russian Caucasus Army (World War I)|Russian Caucasus Army]] under command of [[Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929)|Grand Duke Nicholas]] and [[Nikolai Nikolaevich Yudenich|Nikolai Yudenich]]. There was also a massacre of Armenians and Greeks in Trabzon just before the Russian takeover of the city.<ref>{{cite news |title=Massacre of Christians before Evacuation of Trebizond |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/124874666 |publisher=The Daily Herald |date=April 21, 1916 |location=Adelaide, Australia |page=5 |quote="Frightful scenes were witnessed in the Christian quarter...hundreds of civilians were killed."}}</ref> 

In early 1917 Chrysantos tried to broker a peace between the Russians and the Ottomans, to no avail. During the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]] Russian soldiers in the city turned to rioting and looting, with officers commandeering Trebizonian ships to flee the scene. Governor Chrysantos was able to calm the Russian soldiers down, and the Russian Army ultimately retreated from the city and the rest of eastern and northeastern [[Anatolia]]. In March and April of 1918 the city hosted the [[Trebizond Peace Conference]], where the Ottomans agreed to give up their military gains in the Caucasus in return for recognition of the eastern borders of the empire in Anatolia by the [[Transcaucasian Seim]] (a short-lived transcaucasian government). 

In December 1918 Trabzon deputy governor [[Hafız Mehmet]] gave a speech at the [[Ottoman parliament]] in which he blamed the former governor of [[Trebizond Vilayet|Trebizond province]] [[Cemal Azmi]] – a non-native appointee who had fled to Germany after the Russian invasion – for orchestrating the Armenian genocide in the city in 1915, by means of drowning. Subsequently, a series of war crimes trials were held in Trebizond in early 1919 (see [[Trebizond during the Armenian genocide]]). Among others, Cemal Azmi was sentenced to death in absentia.

{{multiple image
| align             = left
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| image1            = Chrysanthos.jpg
| caption1          = Chrysanthos Philippidis, metropolitan and governor of Trabzon during part of the First World War. He protected the local population, regardless of religion or ethnicity.
| image2            = Ali Shukri Bey.jpg
| caption2          = Ali Şükrü Bey, publisher and politician from Trabzon who opposed violence against ethnic minorities and paid the ultimate price for his criticism of Mustafa Kemal
}}

During the [[Turkish War of Independence]] several Christian [[Pontic Greeks|Pontic Greek]] communities in the Trebizond province rebelled against the new army of [[Mustafa Kemal]] (notably in [[Bafra]] and [[Dumanlı|Santa]]), but when nationalist Greeks came to Trabzon to proclaim revolution, they were not received with open arms by the local Pontic Greek population of the city. At the same time the Muslim population of the city, remembering their protection under Greek governor Chrysantos, protested the arrest of prominent Christians. Liberal delegates of Trebizond opposed the election of Mustafa Kemal as the leader of the Turkish revolution at the [[Erzurum Congress]]. 

The governor and mayor of Trebizond were appalled by the violence against Ottoman Greek subjects,<ref>[https://www.thenationalherald.com/176214/seattle-city-council-asia-minor Seattle City Council and Asia Minor – The articles of Herbert Adams Gibbons in the Christian Science Monitor] Stavros T. Stavridis in ''[[The National Herald]]'', September 26, 2017</ref> and the government of Trabzon thus refused arms to Mustafa Kemal's henchman [[Topal Osman]], who was responsible for mass murders in the western Pontus which were part of the [[Greek genocide]]. Osman was forced out of the city by armed Turkish port-workers.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kVZ3sLBEPEcC&q=1921&pg=PA112|title=Twice a Stranger: The Mass Expulsions that Forged Modern Greece and Turkey|pages=112–116|first=Bruce|last=Clark|date=2006|publisher=Harvard University Press|access-date=15 January 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=9780674023680}}</ref> Governor Chrysantos travelled to the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]], where he proposed the establishment of the [[Republic of Pontus]], which would protect its different ethnic groups. For this he was condemned to death by the Turkish Nationalist forces, and he could not return to his post in Trebizond. Instead, the city was to be handed to '[[Wilsonian Armenia]]', which likewise never materialized. Following the war, the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] was annulled and replaced with the [[Treaty of Lausanne]] (1923). As part of this new treaty, Trebizond became part of the new [[Turkey|Turkish Republic]]. The efforts of the pro-[[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]], anti-nationalist population of Trebizond only postponed the inevitable, because the national governments of Turkey and Greece agreed to a mutual [[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey|forced population exchange]]. This exchange included well over 100,000 [[Pontic Greeks|Greeks]] from Trebizond and the vicinity, who moved to Greece (founding the new towns of [[Nea Trapezounta, Pieria]] and [[Nea Trapezounta, Grevena]] amongst others).<ref>Baum, Wilhelm (2006). ''The Christian minorities in Turkey''. Kitab. p. 162. {{ISBN|978-3-902005-62-5}}. "On October 11, 1922, Turkey concluded an armistice with the allied forces, but not with the Greeks. The Greeks in the other settlement areas of Asia Minor were also expelled at that time, like e.g. the Kappadocian Greeks in the Goreme area and the other Greeks in Pontus, in the Trebizond area and on the west coast."</ref> 

During the war Trebizond parliamentarian [[Ali Şükrü Bey]] had been one of the leading figures of the [[Second Group (Turkey)|first Turkish opposition party]]. In his newspaper ''Tan'', Şükrü and colleagues publicized critiques of the Kemalist government, such as towards the violence perpetrated against Greeks during the population exchange. Şükrü argued that recognition of ethnic diversity was not a threat to the Turkish nation.

{{multiple image
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| image1            = Uzun Sokak at night.JPG
| caption1          = Uzun Sokak, a pedestrianized shopping street
| image2            = Trabzon,AtatürkAlani.jpg
| caption2          = Atatürk Alani at Meydan square in Taksim (central Trabzon)
}}

Topal Osman's men would eventually murder parliamentarian Şükrü for his criticism of the nationalist government of Mustafa Kemal in March 1923. Topal Osman was later sentenced to death and killed while resisting arrest. After pressure from the opposition, his headless body was hanged by his foot in front of the Turkish parliament. Ali Şükrü Bey, who had studied in [[Deniz Harp Okulu]] (Turkish Naval Academy) and worked as a journalist in the United Kingdom, is seen as a hero by the people of Trabzon, while in neighboring Giresun there is a statue of his murderer Topal Osman. Three years later Trabzon deputy Hafız Mehmet – who had testified to his knowledge of, and opposition to, the Armenian Ggenocide – was also executed, for his alleged involvement in the [[İzmir plot]] to assassinate Mustafa Kemal. The literal decapitation of the Turkish political opposition – which was in large part based in the Trabzon region – decreased the city's national influence, and led to a long-standing animosity between the Kemalists and the population of Trabzon. A political and cultural divide between the Eastern Black Sea Region and the rest of Anatolia continued to exist throughout the 20th century, and still influences Turkish politics today. Even in the 21st century, politicians who hail from Trabzon are often faced with xenophobic attacks from both nationalist and conservative circles.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

During World War II shipping activity was limited because the Black Sea had again become a war zone. Hence, the most important export products, [[tobacco]] and [[hazelnuts]], could not be sold and living standards degraded.

As a result of the general development of the country, Trabzon has developed its economic and commercial life. The coastal highway and a new harbour have increased commercial relations with central Anatolia, which has led to some growth. However, progress has been slow in comparison to the western and the southwestern parts of Turkey.

Trabzon is famous throughout Turkey for its [[anchovies]] called ''hamsi'', which are the main meal in many restaurants in the city. Major exports from Trabzon include [[hazelnuts]] and [[tea]].

The city still has a sizable community of [[Greek Muslims#Greek Muslims of Pontus and the Caucasus|Greek-speaking Muslims]], most of whom are originally from the vicinities of [[Tonya, Turkey|Tonya]], [[Sürmene]] and [[Çaykara]]. However, the variety of the [[Pontic Greek|Pontic Greek language]] - known as "''Romeika''" in the local vernacular, ''Pontiaka'' in Greek, and ''Rumca'' in Turkish - is spoken mostly by the older generations.<ref>[[Özhan Öztürk]]: [http://www.yeniansiklopedi.com/pontus-anticag%e2%80%99dan-gunumuze-karadeniz%e2%80%99in-etnik-ve-siyasi-tarihi/ ''Pontus: Antik Çağ’dan Günümüze Karadeniz’in Etnik ve Siyasi Tarihi'', Genesis Yayınları, Ankara, 2011], pp. 417–421, {{ISBN|978-605-54-1017-9}}; Peter Mackridge: ''Greek-Speaking Muslims of North-East Turkey: Prolegomena to a study of the Ophitic sub-dialect of Pontic'', Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Oxford University Press, 1987, pp. 115–137; [[Ömer Asan]]: ''Pontus Kültürü'', Belge Yayınları, Istanbul, 1996.</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Ortamahalle.jpg|thumb|right|Historic mansions in [[Akçaabat]] (formerly Platana village)]]
[[Trabzon Province]] has a total area of {{convert|4685|km²|0|abbr=out}} and is bordered by the provinces of [[Rize Province|Rize]], [[Giresun Province|Giresun]], and [[Gümüşhane Province|Gümüşhane]]. The total area is 22.4% plateau and 77.6% hills. The [[Pontic Mountains]] pass through the Trabzon Province.

Trabzon used to be an important [[pilotage|reference point]] for [[navigation|navigators]] in the Black Sea during harsh weather conditions. The popular expression "perdere la Trebisonda" (losing Trebizond) is still commonly used in the [[Italian language]] to describe situations in which the sense of direction is lost.<ref name="latorio"/> The Italian maritime republics such as [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and in particular [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] were active in the Black Sea trade for centuries.<ref name="latorio"/>

Trabzon has four lakes: [[Uzungöl]], Çakırgöl, Sera, and Haldizen Lakes. There are several streams, but no rivers in Trabzon.

===Climate===
Trabzon has a climate typical of the eastern Black Sea region, a [[humid subtropical climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]: ''Cfa,'' [[Trewartha climate classification|Trewartha]]'': Cf'') near the coast.<ref>{{cite journal
  |first1=M. C. |last1=Peel |first2=B. L. |last2=Finlayson |first3=T. A. |last3=McMahon
  |title=Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification
  |journal=Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
  |year=2007
  |volume=4 |pages=439–473
  |doi=10.5194/hessd-4-439-2007
  |issue=2|bibcode=2007HESSD...4..439P |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00298818/file/hessd-4-439-2007.pdf|doi-access=free}}</ref> A very small percentage of the province can be classified as subtropical, however, as slightly elevated rural areas near the coast are [[oceanic climate|oceanic]] (''Cfb/Do''), the mountainous offshores are [[humid continental climate|humid continental]] (''Dfb/Dc'') and [[subarctic climate|subarctic]] (''Dfc/Eo''); and [[tundra]] (''ET/Ft'') can be found in the peaks of the Pontic Alps. Furthermore, during the time the [[Köppen climate classification]] was created, the city center had a borderline oceanic-humid subtropical climate, falling just under the {{convert|22|C|F|0}} threshold for the hottest month of the year, yet [[climate change]] and the city's [[urban heat island]] contributed to its reclassification as humid subtropical in recent decades. This and the fact that the subtropical microclimate zone along the shore occupies a very narrow band due to the continuous parallel mountain range starting right at the coast is why local authorities still classify the city as oceanic, as this climate subtype is better representative of the entire coastal region of the province.<ref>{{Cite web|date=27 May 2021|title=Türkiye İklimi|url=https://www.mgm.gov.tr/iklim/iklim.aspx?key=C|website=Meteoroloji Genel Müdürlüğü}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=File:Koppen-Geiger Map TUR present.svg - Wikipedia|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Koppen-Geiger_Map_TUR_present.svg|access-date=2020-11-07|website=commons.wikimedia.org| date=6 November 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

Summers are warm, the average maximum temperature is around {{convert|28|°C|0}} in August, while winters are generally cool, the lowest average minimum temperature is  {{convert|4.6|°C}} in February. During winter, brief periods with [[Foehn wind|foehn winds]] can cause temperatures to rise substantially, raising the seasonal average compared to typical cold conditions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MGM |url=https://www.mgm.gov.tr/FILES/genel/makale/ormanyanginfon.pdf}}</ref> Precipitation is heaviest in autumn and winter, with a marked reduction in the summer months, a [[microclimate|microclimatic]] condition of the city center compared to the rest of the region.<ref>{{Cite web|date=27 May 2021|title=Meteorolojik Parametrelerin Türkiye'de Analizi|url=https://www.mgm.gov.tr/veridegerlendirme/il-ve-ilceler-istatistik.aspx?k=parametrelerinTurkiyeAnalizi|website=Meteoroloji Genel Müdürlüğü}}</ref> 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 (this is due to the "[[lake-effect snow]]"). The heaviest recorded snowfall in the city center was 115 cm (45.3 inches), recorded on 15 January 1950.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meteoroloji Genel Müdürlüğü |url=https://www.mgm.gov.tr/veridegerlendirme/il-ve-ilceler-istatistik.aspx?k=undefined&m=TRABZON |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=www.mgm.gov.tr}}</ref>

The water temperature, like in the rest of the Black Sea coast of Turkey, is generally mild, and fluctuates between {{convert|8|°C|0|abbr=on}} and {{convert|20|°C|0|abbr=on}} throughout the year.

{{Weather box 
|metric first= Yes 
|single line= Yes 
|location= Trabzon (1991–2020, extremes 1927–2023)
|Jan record high C = 27.0
|Feb record high C = 30.1
|Mar record high C = 35.2
|Apr record high C = 37.6
|May record high C = 38.2
|Jun record high C = 36.7
|Jul record high C = 37.0
|Aug record high C = 38.2
|Sep record high C = 37.9
|Oct record high C = 33.8
|Nov record high C = 32.8
|Dec record high C = 26.4
|year record high C = 38.2
|Jan high C = 11.3
|Feb high C = 11.4
|Mar high C = 13.0
|Apr high C = 16.3
|May high C = 20.0
|Jun high C = 24.5
|Jul high C = 27.5
|Aug high C = 28.1
|Sep high C = 25.1
|Oct high C = 21.0
|Nov high C = 16.5
|Dec high C = 13.1
|year high C = 19.0
|Jan mean C = 7.7
|Feb mean C = 7.5
|Mar mean C = 9.2
|Apr mean C = 12.2
|May mean C = 16.4
|Jun mean C = 20.9
|Jul mean C = 23.8
|Aug mean C = 24.4
|Sep mean C = 21.1
|Oct mean C = 17.2
|Nov mean C = 12.7
|Dec mean C = 9.5
|year mean C = 15.2
|Jan low C = 5.0
|Feb low C = 4.6
|Mar low C = 6.2
|Apr low C = 9.0
|May low C = 13.4
|Jun low C = 17.6
|Jul low C = 20.6
|Aug low C = 21.2
|Sep low C = 17.8
|Oct low C = 14.1
|Nov low C = 9.6
|Dec low C = 6.8
|year low C = 12.2
|Jan record low C = -7.0
|Feb record low C = -7.4
|Mar record low C = -5.8
|Apr record low C = -2.0
|May record low C =  4.2
|Jun record low C = 9.2
|Jul record low C = 11.0
|Aug record low C = 13.5
|Sep record low C = 7.3
|Oct record low C = 3.4
|Nov record low C = -1.6
|Dec record low C = -3.3
|year record low C = -7.4
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 88.8
|Feb precipitation mm = 63.1
|Mar precipitation mm = 69.3
|Apr precipitation mm = 62.8
|May precipitation mm = 55.5
|Jun precipitation mm = 52.3
|Jul precipitation mm = 34.7
|Aug precipitation mm = 59.4
|Sep precipitation mm = 85.4
|Oct precipitation mm = 134.1
|Nov precipitation mm = 103.2
|Dec precipitation mm = 93.5
|year precipitation mm = 902.1
|Jan precipitation days = 13.32
|Feb precipitation days = 11.91
|Mar precipitation days = 14.18
|Apr precipitation days = 14.09
|May precipitation days = 13.32
|Jun precipitation days = 11.73
|Jul precipitation days = 7.86
|Aug precipitation days = 9.91
|Sep precipitation days = 11.09
|Oct precipitation days = 13.36
|Nov precipitation days = 11.68
|Dec precipitation days = 13.05
|year precipitation days = 
|Jan humidity = 69
|Feb humidity = 69
|Mar humidity = 73
|Apr humidity = 75
|May humidity = 77
|Jun humidity = 75
|Jul humidity = 73
|Aug humidity = 73
|Sep humidity = 74
|Oct humidity = 73
|Nov humidity = 70
|Dec humidity = 68

|Jan sun = 71.3
|Feb sun = 84.8
|Mar sun = 99.2
|Apr sun = 135.0
|May sun = 170.5
|Jun sun = 192.0
|Jul sun = 176.7
|Aug sun = 151.9
|Sep sun = 147.0
|Oct sun = 127.1
|Nov sun = 105.0
|Dec sun = 65.1

|Jand sun = 2.3
|Febd sun = 3.0
|Mard sun = 3.2
|Aprd sun = 4.5
|Mayd sun = 5.5
|Jund sun = 6.4
|Juld sun = 5.7
|Augd sun = 4.9
|Sepd sun = 4.9
|Octd sun = 4.1
|Novd sun = 3.5
|Decd sun = 2.1
|yeard sun =
|source 1 = [[Turkish State Meteorological Service]]<ref name = TSMS>{{cite web
| url = https://www.mgm.gov.tr/veridegerlendirme/il-ve-ilceler-istatistik.aspx?k=H&m=TRABZON
| title = Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Genel İstatistik Verileri
| publisher = Turkish State Meteorological Service
| language = tr
| access-date = 26 June 2021}}</ref>
|source 2= Weatherbase<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=83071&refer=&units=us&cityname=Trabzon-Turkey|title=Trabzon, Turkey Travel Weather Averages (Weatherbase)|website=Weatherbase|access-date=14 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?ind=17038&ano=2021&mes=1&day=13&hora=0&min=0&ndays=30 |title= 17038: Trabzon (Turkey) |publisher=OGIMET |access-date=14 January 2021 |date=13 January 2021}}</ref>
|date=September 2016 }}

==Economy==
[[File:Trebizond_theatre.jpg|thumb|Postcard of the [[art nouveau]] style theatre/cinema in Trabzon]]

As of 1920, the port at Trabzon was considered "the most important of the Turkish Black Sea ports" by the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]]. It traded as far as [[Tabriz]] and [[Mosul]]. As of 1911, the [[Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey]] signed an agreement to develop a [[harbor]] at the port. When the Russians occupied Trabzon, a [[Mole (architecture)|mole]] was built.<ref name=Prothero51>{{cite book|last=Prothero|first=W.G.|title=Armenia and Kurdistan|year=1920|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|location=London|page=51|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11768/view/1/51/}}</ref> They built a [[Breakwater (structure)|breakwater]] and were responsible for creating an extended pier, making loading and unloading easier. In 1920, Trabzon produced [[linen]] cloth, [[silver]] [[filagree]], [[Tanning (leather)|tanning]] and small amounts of [[cotton]], [[silk]] and [[wool]]. [[Tobacco]] and [[hazelnut]]s were exported.<ref name=Prothero52>{{cite book|last=Prothero|first=W.G.|title=Armenia and Kurdistan|year=1920|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|location=London|page=52 |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11768/view/1/52/}}</ref> The tobacco produced in Trabzon was called ''Trebizond-Platana''. It was described as having "large leaves and a bright colour."<ref name=Prothero61>{{cite book|last=Prothero|first=W.G.|title=Armenia and Kurdistan|year=1920|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|location=London|page=61|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11768/view/1/61/}}</ref> Trabzon was known for producing poor quality [[cereal]]s, mostly for local use.<ref name=Prothero60>{{cite book|last=Prothero|first=W.G.|title=Armenia and Kurdistan|year=1920|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|location=London |page=60|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11768/view/1/60/}}</ref>

Trabzon produced a white [[green bean]], which was sold in Europe. It was, as of 1920, the only vegetable exported out of the province.<ref name=Prothero61/> [[Poultry farming]] was also popular in Trabzon. [[Sericulture]] was seen in the area before 1914.<ref name=Prothero64>{{cite book|last=Prothero|first=W.G.|title=Armenia and Kurdistan|year=1920|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|location=London|page=64|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11768/view/1/64/}}</ref> The area produced [[copper]], [[silver]], [[zinc]], [[iron]] and [[manganese]]. Copper was kept for local use by [[coppersmith]]s. During the [[Balkan Wars]] production ceased due to poor exportation and fuel supplies.<ref name=Prothero73>{{cite book|last=Prothero|first=W.G.|title=Armenia and Kurdistan|year=1920|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office|location=London|page=73|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11768/view/1/73/}}</ref>

[[Trabzon Airport]] opened in 1957.

==People==
=== History ===
Trebizond was an overwhelmingly [[Christianity|Christian]] and [[Greeks|Greek]] city at the time of its fall to the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] in 1461. The Greek Christians slowly lost their majority through the end of that century. Initially, the Muslims were mainly immigrants from [[Anatolia]] with a minority of local converts, but this quickly changed with the emergence of an active missionary spirit in the 16th century, as mosques and [[dervish]] lodges were built in predominantly Christian neighborhoods.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Greene |first1=Molly |title=Edinburgh History of the Greeks, 1453 to 1768: The Ottoman Empire |date=23 July 2015 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |pages=75–79 |isbn=9780748694006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0DwkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 |access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref>[[File:Johannes Bessarion aport012.png|thumb|[[Bessarion]] was born in Trebizond on January 2, 1403. He was one of the illustrious Greek scholars who contributed to the [[Renaissance]] in [[Western Europe]] in the 15th century.]]
[[File:EmperorSuleiman.jpg|thumb|[[Suleiman the Magnificent]] was born in Trebizond on November 6, 1494. He vastly enlarged the territories of the [[Ottoman Empire]], which became one of the world's leading [[superpower]]s in the 16th century, together with its arch-rival in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], the [[Spanish Empire]]. Portrait after [[Titian]] in the [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]], Vienna.]]

[[Laz people]] also live in Trabzon. Numerous villages inside and out of Trabzon of the Laz date back as early as the period of [[Tamar of Georgia|Queen Tamar]]'s rule (Georgian: თამარი, also transliterated as T'amar or Thamar; c. 1160 – 18 January 1213) in the newly unified [[Kingdom of Georgia]]. During the Queen's rule, sizeable groups of immigrating Georgians moved to Trabzon where they continue to preserve their native tongue. There was an Armenian community in Trebizond as early as the 7th century.<ref name=sae>{{Cite encyclopedia|author1=Victor Amazaspovich Ambartsumian |author2=Abel Poghosi Simonyan |author3=Makich Vahani Arzumanyan |title=Yerevan|year=1986|encyclopedia=Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran ["[[Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia]]"] |volume=12|pages=87 |oclc=10431241|language=hy}}</ref>

During the 13th and 14th centuries, numerous [[Armenians|Armenian]] families migrated there from [[Ani]].<ref name="sae"/> Robert W. Edwards published part of an early 15th-century diary from the Castilian ambassador who visited Trabzon and compared the churches of the Greek and Armenian communities.<ref>Robert W. Edwards, "Armenian and Byzantine Religious Practices in Early Fifteenth-Century Trabzon: A Spanish Viewpoint", ''Revue des Études Arméniennes'' 23, 1992, pp. 81–90.</ref> It was stated by the ambassador that the Armenians, who were not well-liked by the Greeks, had a population large enough to support a resident bishop.  According to Ronald C. Jennings, in the early 16th century, Armenians made up approximately 13 percent<ref>15.5% of 85%</ref> of the city's population.<ref>Jennings, Ronald C. (Jan. 1976) ''Urban Population in Anatolia in the 16th Century'': International Journal of MiddleEast Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1 pp. 21–57.</ref> At present, Trabzon does not have an Armenian-speaking community.

The [[Chepni]] people, a tribe of [[Oghuz Turks]] who played an important role in the history of the eastern Black Sea area in the 13th and 14th centuries, live in the [[Şalpazarı]] (Ağasar valley) region of the Trabzon Province.<ref>Bernt Brendemoen, ''The Turkish dialects of Trabzon'', [[University of Oslo]], 2002 p. 18</ref> Very little has been written on the [[Turkification]] of the area. There are no historical records of any considerable Turkish-speaking groups in the Trabzon area until the late 15th century, with the exception of the Chepnis. The original [[Pontic Greek|Greek]] (and in some regions [[Armenian language|Armenian]]) speakers imposed features from their mother language into the Turkish spoken in the region. [[Heath W. Lowry]]'s<ref>Professor. Department of Near Eastern Studies. Princeton University</ref> work with Halil İnalcık on Ottoman tax books (''Tahrir Defteri'')<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080222063342/http://www.e-bogazici.com/pinfo.asp?pid=224 Trabzon Şehrinin İslamlaşması ve Türkleşmesi 1461–1583] {{ISBN|975-518-116-4}}</ref> provides detailed demographic statistics for the city of Trabzon and its surrounding areas during the Ottoman period.

It is possible that the majority of the population of Trabzon and [[Rize]] (another ancient Greek colony in the Pontus region) — except up to the time of the Chepni Turk immigration waves — consisted of indigenous Caucasian tribes (the [[Colchians]] and the Laz) who had been partly [[Hellenization|Hellenized]] religiously and linguistically.<ref>Michael Meeker, "The Black Sea Turks: some aspects of their ethnic and cultural background", ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'' (1971) '''2''':318–345</ref> Michael Meeker stresses the cultural resemblances (e.g. in village structure, house types, and pastoral techniques) between the Eastern Black Sea coast and the areas in the [[Caucasus]] proper.<ref>Meeker, 1971: p. 326 "''As the mentioned, the villages along the Black Sea coast from Ordu to Artvin are composed of many hamlets, each dominating a hilltop or mountainside on which its own crops are separately planted. This type of settlement pattern is in sharp contrast with the typical nucleated Anatolian village, but its characteristic of many rural settlements of the Western Caucasus notably those of Abkhaz, Circassians, Georgians, Mingrelians, and Ossetes...''"<br />For similar ideas See: Karl Koch, Reise duch Russland nach dem Kaukasis chen Istmus in den Jahren, 1836. vol1. p. 378; W.E.D. Allen, ''A History of the Georgian People'', London 1932. pp. 54–5; Özhan Öztürk, Karadeniz. 2005. p. 35, 757–68. For linguistic influence see: Bernt Brendomoen, ''Laz influence on the Black Sea Turkish Dialects'', 1990 (Proceedings from 32nd meeting of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference)</ref>

=== Urbanization ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Population !! 2007 !! 2008 !! 2009 !! 2010 !! 2011 !! 2012 !! 2013 !! 2014 !! 2015
|-
| Total || 740,569 || 748,982 || 765,127 || 763,714 || 757,353 || 757,898 || 758,237 || 766,782 || 768,417
|-
| Urban ||  396,646 || 390,797 || 408,103 || 415,652 || 757,353 || 757,898 || 758,237 || 766,782 || 768,417
|}

==Main sights==
{{multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| align             = right
| width             = 240
| image1            = Sumela Showing Location.JPG
| caption1          = [[Sümela Monastery]]
| image2            = Trabzon - panoramio (2).jpg
| caption2          = Zağnos bridge and central Ortahisar neighborhood
| image3            = Trabzon mansions.JPG
| caption3          = Vernacular architecture in masonry
| image4            = Trabzon Museum 2.jpg
| caption4          = [[Trabzon Museum]]
}}

Trabzon has a number of tourist attractions, some of them dating back to the times of the [[ancient]] [[empire]]s that once existed in the region. In the city itself, one can find a hub of shops, stalls and restaurants surrounding the ''[[Meydan (park)|Meydan]]'', a square in the center of the city, which includes a tea garden.

* The [[Hagia Sophia, Trabzon|Hagia Sophia]] (formerly {{langx|tr|Ayasofya Müzesi}}, now a mosque), a stunning Byzantine church, is probably the town's most important tourist attraction.
* [[Trabzon Castle]] ruins are visible in the town but cannot be visited as they fall in a military zone. The outside wall of the castle now serves as the back wall of a military building.
* The "Atatürk Köşkü" is a villa built in 1890 by a local Greek merchant. In 1924 [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]] stayed in the villa during his visit to Trabzon. He stayed there again in 1937. It houses period rooms and serves as a monument to the memory of the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.
* [[Boztepe hill, Trabzon|Boztepe Park]] is a small park and tea garden on the hills above Trabzon that has a panoramic view of nearly the entire city. The terrain in Trabzon is ascending in such a way that although the view is far above that of the buildings below, it is still close enough to be able to observe the flow of traffic and the people moving about in the city.
* Uzun Sokak is one of the most crowded streets of Trabzon.
* [[Trabzon Museum]] is located in the town centre and offers interesting exhibits on the history of the region, including an impressive collection of Byzantine artifacts.
* Trabzon's Bazaar District offers interesting shopping opportunities on ancient narrow streets, continuing from Kunduracılar Street from the Meydan (town square).
* [[Saint Anne Church, Trabzon]], is located in the city centre of Trabzon, and one of the oldest in the city.
* [[Kostaki Mansion]] is located to the north of [[Zeytinlik, Artvin|Zeytinlik]], near Uzun Sokak.
* Uzungöl Dursun Ali İnan Museum An ethnographic museum in [[Uzungol]] that tells the history of Trabzon and the region.

Other sites of the city include: [[Fatih Mosque of Trabzon|Fatih Mosque]] (originally the Panagia Khrysokephalos Church), [[Yeni Cuma Mosque]] (originally the Agios Eugenios Church), [[Nakip Mosque]] (originally the Agios Andreas Church), Hüsnü Köktuğ Mosque (originally the Agios Elevtherios Church), [[İskender Pasha Mosque, Trabzon|İskender Pasha Mosque]], Semerciler Mosque, Çarşı Mosque, Gülbahar Hatun Mosque and Türbe (commissioned by Sultan [[Selim I]]), and [[Kalepark]] (originally Leonkastron).

Within [[Trabzon Province]], the main attractions are the [[Sümela Monastery]] (i.&nbsp;e. the Monastery of the Panagia Soumelá) and the [[Uzungöl]] lake. The monastery is built on the side of a very steep mountain overlooking the green forests below and is about {{convert|50|km|0|abbr=off}} south of the city. Uzungöl is known for its natural environment and scenery. Other sites of interest in the broader region include:
* [[Kaymaklı Monastery]], a formerly Armenian Monastery of the All-Saviour (arm. Ամենափրկիչ Վանք, Amenaprgič Vank);
* [[Kızlar Monastery]] of Panagia Theoskepastos (the God-veiled Virgin);
* [[Kuştul Monastery]] of Gregorios Peristereotas (gr. Ιερά Μονή του Αγίου Γεωργίου Περιστερεώτα, Ierá Moní tou Agíou Georgíou Peristereóta);
* [[Vazelon Monastery]] of Agios Savvas (Maşatlık);
* Cave churches of Agia Anna (Little Ayvasıl), Sotha (St. John), Agios Theodoros, Agios Konstantinos, Agios Christophoros, Agia Kyriakí, Agios Michail, and Panagia Tzita churches.<ref>[http://www.karalahana.com/english.html Karalahana.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611152026/http://www.karalahana.com/english.html |date=2008-06-11 }}</ref>

[[File:Trabzon City Centre.jpg|1000px]]

==Culture==
[[File:Trebizonde - National dance of Laz.jpg|thumb|Postcard of Trabzon showing the national dance Horon]]

Folk dancing is still very much in evidence in the [[Black Sea Region]]. The "[[Horon (dance)|Horon]]" is a famous dance that is indigenous to the city and its surrounding area. It is performed by men, women, the young and elderly alike; in festivities, local weddings and [[harvest]] times.<ref>[http://www.karalahana.com/english/archive/people.html People and culture of Trabzon and Black sea region] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210010135/http://karalahana.com/english/archive/people.html |date=2010-02-10 }}</ref> While similar to Russian [[Cossacks|Cossack]] dances in terms of vividness, the Trabzon folk dance is probably indigenous to the eastern Black Sea region, which has an impressive variety of folk music.

The people of Trabzon have a reputation for being religiously conservative and nationalist. Many Trabzonites generally show a strong sense of loyalty to their family, friends, religion and country. Atatürk selected his presidential guards from Trabzon and the neighbouring city of [[Giresun]] because of their fierce fighting ability and their loyalty.

Outside of the relatively urban space of Trabzon proper, and within parts of it as well, rural traditions from the Black Sea village life are still thriving. These include traditional gender roles, [[social conservatism]], hospitality, and a willingness to help strangers; and all aspects, both positive and negative, of an agrarian lifestyle, such as hard work, poverty, strong family ties, and a closeness to nature.

The people of the eastern Black Sea region are also known for their wit and sense of humour; many jokes in Turkey are told about the natives of the Black Sea region ''Karadeniz fıkraları'' (Black Sea jokes). The character ''Temel'', a universal buffoon figure found in many cultures, forms an important part of the Turkish oral tradition.

The city's profile was raised somewhat in the English-speaking world by [[Rose Macaulay|Dame Rose Macaulay]]'s last novel, ''[[The Towers of Trebizond]]'' (1956), which is still in print.<ref>[[Rose Macaulay|Macaulay, Rose]]: ''The Towers of Trebizond'' (Collins, London, 1956)</ref>

==Education==
[[File:Karadeniz_Teknik_Üniversitesi_01_Технички_универзитет_на_Црном_мору.jpg|thumb|A view from the Karadeniz Technical University campus]]

[[Karadeniz Technical University]] in Trabzon hosts students from all over Turkey, especially from the [[Black Sea Region|Black Sea]] and [[East Anatolia Region, Turkey|East Anatolian]] regions, as well as students from the Turkic states in [[Central Asia]].

Historically the city was a center of Greek culture and education and from 1683 to 1921, a teachers' college operated known as [[Phrontisterion of Trapezous]], which provided a major impetus for the rapid expansion of Greek education throughout the region.<ref>{{cite book |last=Özdalga|first=Elisabeth |title=Late Ottoman society: the intellectual legacy |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sRtTyyGIgXsC&pg=PA261 |isbn=978-0-415-34164-6| page=261}}</ref> The building of this institution (built in 1902) still remains the most impressive [[Pontic Greeks|Pontic Greek]] monument in the city and today hosts the Turkish school ''Anadolu Lisesi''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bryer |first1=Anthony |title=The post-Byzantine monuments of Pontos |publisher=Ashgate |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gmfqAAAAMAAJ&q=phrontisterion |isbn=978-0-86078-864-5| page=xxxiii}}</ref>

==Cuisine==
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2020}}
Trabzon's regional cuisine is traditionally reliant on fish, especially ''hamsi'' (fresh [[European Anchovy]] similar to the British Sprat or American Smelt). Trabzon meets 20% of the total fish production in Turkey. Regional dishes include the ''[[Akçaabat]] [[köfte]]'' (spicy lamb meatball from the Akçaabat district), ''Karadeniz pidesi'' (canoe shaped [[pita]] bread, often filled with ground beef, cheese and eggs), ''kuymak'' (a Turkish fondue made with cornmeal, fresh butter and cheese), ''Vakfıkebir ekmeği'' (large country-style bread), ''Tonya tereyağı'' (Tonya butter), ''tava mısır ekmeği'' (deep-dish corn bread) and ''kara lahana çorbası'' (bean and cabbage soup).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Duman |first=Mustafa |date=2019 |title=Traditional Foods of Trabzon |url=https://www.turkish-cuisine.org/regional-cuisine-4/black-sea-region-124/trabzon-155.html}}</ref> ''Taflan kavurması'' is a [[Prunus laurocerasus|cherry laurel]] dish served with onions and [[olive oil]]. Trabzon is also famous for its [[hazelnut]]s. The [[Black Sea region]] of Turkey is the world's largest producer of [[cherry]] and [[hazelnut]]; and a large production area of [[tea]]; all of which play an important role in the local cuisine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Trabzon The Official Travel Guide of Trabzon |url=https://www.exploretrabzon.com |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=www.exploretrabzon.com}}</ref>

==Sports==
[[File:Trabzon_FC_1920s.jpg|thumb|Photograph of a football team of Trabzonspor in 1920–1925]]
[[Association football|Football]] is the most popular sport in Trabzon. The city's top sports club, [[Trabzonspor]], was until [[2009–10 Süper Lig|2010]] the only Turkish football club outside İstanbul to win the [[Süper Lig]] (six times), which was previously (until Trabzonspor's first championship title in the [[1975–76 1.Lig|1975–76 season]]) won only by the "Big Three" clubs of [[Istanbul]], namely [[Galatasaray S.K. (football)|Galatasaray]], [[Fenerbahçe S.K. (football)|Fenerbahçe]], and [[Beşiktaş J.K.|Beşiktaş]]. Due to Trabzonspor's success, the decades-old term "Big Three" which defined the most successful football clubs in Turkey had to be modified into the "Big Four".
Trabzonspor is also one of the most successful Turkish clubs in the [[UEFA|European Cups]], managing to beat numerous prominent teams such as [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]], [[Inter Milan|Inter]], [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]], [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]], [[Monaco]], and [[Olympique Lyonnais|Lyon]]. Renowned former players of Trabzonspor include [[Şenol Güneş]], [[Lars Olsen]] and [[Shota Arveladze]]. In the 2021–2022 season, Trabzonspor left their Istanbul competition far behind, securing an early championship and ending a 38-year dry streak. Hundreds of thousands Trabzonite expatriates and fans from around the globe made their way to the city to participate in one of the first mass gatherings in the country for nearly two years, marking the end of the Corona pandemic. Officially the pandemic-measures had not been fully lifted, which led to some criticism towards the city's municipal government for allowing the festivities to continue for hours into the night, long past curfew.

Trabzon hosted the first edition of the [[Black Sea Games]] in July 2007 and the [[2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival]].

Built in 2017, a two-lane [[Trabzon Curling Hall]] is situated under stadium of the [[Şenol Güneş Sports Complex]].<ref name="m1"/>

== Mayors of Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality ==
* [[1984 Turkish local elections|1984]]-[[1989 Turkish local elections|1989]] Orhan Karakullukçu [[Anavatan Partisi]]
* [[1989 Turkish local elections|1989]]-[[1994 Turkish local elections|1994]] [[Atay Aktuğ]] [[Social Democratic Populist Party (Turkey)|SHP]], [[Republican People's Party|CHP]]
* [[1994 Turkish local elections|1994]]-[[2002 Turkish general election|2002]] [[:tr:Asım Aykan|Asım Aykan]] [[Refah Party]], [[Fazilet Partisi]], [[AK Party]]
* [[2002 Turkish general election|2002]]-[[2004 Turkish local elections|2004]] [[:tr:Niyazi Sürmen|Niyazi Sürmen]] [[AK Party]]
* [[2004 Turkish local elections|2004]]-[[2009 Turkish local elections|2009]] [[Volkan Canalioğlu]] [[Republican People's Party|CHP]]
* [[2009 Turkish local elections|2009]]-[[2019 Turkish local elections|2019]] [[:tr:Orhan Fevzi Gümrükçüoğlu|Orhan Fevzi Gümrükçüoğlu]] [[AK Party]] 
* [[2019 Turkish local elections|2019]]-[[2024 Turkish local elections|2024]] [[:tr:Murat Zorluoğlu|Murat Zorluoğlu]] [[AK Party]]
* [[2024 Turkish local elections|2024]]-[[present]] [[:tr:Ahmet Metin Genç]] [[AK Party]]

==Notable residents==
{{main|Category:People from Trabzon}}

==International relations==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Turkey}}

===Twin towns - sister cities===
Trabzon is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web |title=Kardeş Şehirler|url=https://www.trabzon.bel.tr/fck-sayfalar.aspx?id=4485|website=trabzon.bel.tr|publisher=Trabzon|language=tr|access-date=2020-01-17}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*{{flagicon|GEO}} [[Batumi]], Georgia, since 2000
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Dortmund]], Germany, since 2013
*{{flagicon|KGZ}} [[Bishkek]], Kyrgyzstan, since 2014
*{{flagicon|TUN}} [[Gabès]], Tunisia, since 2013
*{{flagicon|IRN}} [[Rasht]], Iran, since 2000
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Rizhao]], China, since 1997
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Sochi]], Russia, since 1993
*{{flagicon|HUN}} [[Szigetvár]], Hungary, since 1998
<!--Travnik - not twinning-->
*{{flagicon|IRN}} [[Zanjan, Iran|Zanjan]], Iran, since 2001
{{div col end}}
Drohgheda, Ireland

==See also==
* [[Amasya]] (ancient [[Amaseia]], capital of the Pontic Greeks during classical antiquity)
* [[Anatolian Tigers]]
* [[Black Sea Region, Turkey|Black Sea Region]]
* [[Kemençe of the Black Sea]]
* [[Kolbastı]]
* [[World Trade Center Trabzon]]
* [[Capture of Trabzon (1918)|Capture of Trabzon]]

==Notes and references==
<references>
<ref name="m1">{{cite news |url=https://www.milliyet.com.tr/yerel-haberler/trabzon/trabzon-olimpik-curling-salonuna-kavustu-12217563 |newspaper=Mİlliyet |title=Trabzon Olimpik Curling Salonu'na Kavuştu |date=11 August 2017 |language=tr |accessdate=22 March 2025 }}</ref>
</references>

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book
| publisher = Dumbarton Oaks Pub Service
| isbn = 0-88402-122-X
| last = Bryer
| first = Anthony
|author2=David Winfield
 | title = Byzantine Monuments and Topography of the Pontos (Dumbarton Oaks Studies,20) Two Volume Set
| date = March 1985
}}
* {{cite journal|author=Nystazopoulou, Marie|title=La dernière reconquête de Sinope par les Grecs de Trébizonde (1254–1265)|journal=[[Revue des études byzantines]]|volume=22 |year=1964|issue=22|pages=241–249 |language=fr|doi=10.3406/rebyz.1964.1329}}
* {{cite news|author=Schliefer, Yigal|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0126/p06s01-woeu.html|title=Turkish city grapples with violent record |work=[[Christian Science Monitor]]|date=2007-01-26}}
* {{cite web|author=Arsu, Sebnem |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/world/europe/08turkey.html?ex=1328590800&en=b1c4ebf924e99da2&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|title=Suspects in Journalist's Killing Came From a Hotbed of Turkish Ultranationalist Sentiment|work=[[New York Times]]|date=2007-02-08}}
* [[Özhan Öztürk]] (2005). Karadeniz ([[Black Sea]]): Ansiklopedik Sözlük. 2 Cilt. Heyamola Yayıncılık. Istanbul. {{ISBN|975-6121-00-9}}
* {{cite book |title=Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites |editor1=Richard Stillwell |editor2=William L. MacDonald |editor3=Marian Holland McAllister |chapter=Trapezus}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Trabzon}}
{{wikivoyage|Trabzon}}
* [https://trabzon.net.tr/ Trabzon Travel Guide]
* [http://www.trabzon.gov.tr/ Governorship of Trabzon]
* [https://turkey-foto.com/thumbnails.php?album=32 Photos of Trabzon city]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130601083455/http://www.karalahana.com/english/archive/history.html History of Trabzon in Karalahana.com]

{{Geographic location
 | Northwest =
 | Northeast =
 | North = [[Black Sea]]
 | West = [[Giresun]]
 | Centre = Trabzon
 | East = [[Rize]]
 | Southwest =
 | South = [[Gümüşhane]] and [[Bayburt]]
 | Southeast =
}}
{{Trabzon}}<!--Not redundant as it links to locations within Trabzon-->
{{Districts of Turkey|provname=Trabzon}}
{{Pontic colonies}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Trabzon| ]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey]]
[[Category:Black Sea port cities and towns in Turkey]]
[[Category:Capitals of former nations]]
[[Category:Empire of Trebizond]]
[[Category:Fishing communities in Turkey]]
[[Category:Greek colonies in Pontus]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Turkey]]
[[Category:Roman towns and cities in Turkey]]
[[Category:Roman harbors in Turkey]]
[[Category:Milesian Pontic colonies]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 8th century BC]]