Türkiye unveils tourism route linking east to Black Sea

ANKARA

This photo shows the eastern province of Erzurum’s Narman Fairy Chimneys.

Türkiye’s Culture and Tourism Ministry has created a four-day route linking eastern Anatolia with the Black Sea to expand domestic tourism, combining castles, monasteries and natural landmarks across four provinces in one itinerary.

The Anabasis Northern Route connects the eastern province of Erzurum with the Black Sea provinces of Bayburt, Gümüşhane and Trabzon. Run by the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA), it is the third route in this year’s Ancient Cities Path project, following Batman-Şırnak and the ‘Unknown Cappadocia’ circuit through Aksaray, Niğde and Kayseri. Travel agencies are preparing to offer it as a package tour.

The route draws on Anabasis, in which Greek writer Xenophon, a student of Socrates, recounts the retreat of mercenaries hired by Cyrus the Younger in 401 B.C. After Cyrus died fighting for the Persian throne, the soldiers retreated north through hostile territory, winter weather and mountains. Their cry of ‘thalassa, thalassa’ (‘the sea, the sea’) on seeing the Black Sea links the ancient account to the tour’s coastal finale.

Day one starts at Erzurum’s Narman Fairy Chimneys, called the ‘Land of Red Fairies’ and designated a natural monument in 2018; wind and rain shaped the formations, colored red by oxidized iron. Stops include the Rainbow Hills, Engüzek Castle and Pirinkayalar Viewing Terrace before the 10th-century Öşvank Monastery in Uzundere’s Çamlıyamaç village. Built under Georgia’s Bagratid dynasty, it retains colored stone carvings, reliefs and frescoes; visitors stay in Erzurum.

Day two covers Bayburt Castle above the Çoruh River, known as Çinimaçin for its Seljuk-era tiles, then the Seljuk-era Ulu Mosque, with its cut-stone walls and brick minaret, Aydıntepe Underground City and Aydıntepe Plateau. The underground galleries and vaulted rooms may have provided shelter in different periods.

In Gümüşhane, Satala in Kelkit’s Sadak village preserves walls, baths and aqueducts from a Roman legionary base. The day ends in Süleymaniye, a former mining settlement shared by Turks, Armenians and Anatolian Greeks, with an overnight stay in Gümüşhane.

Day three covers Santa in Dumanlı village, a protected archaeological and natural site that grew through mining in the 16th-18th centuries. Its seven neighborhoods contain over 300 stone houses alongside churches; its Greek Orthodox residents left after the 1923 population exchange. Harmantepe Martyrs’ Cemetery, Mount Madur and Forapark’s mountain coaster precede a night in Trabzon.

The final day includes Atatürk Pavilion, Çal Cave with its stalactites, stalagmites, underground stream and waterfalls, Tonya’s forested Canikdere Waterfall and Beşikdüzü Cable Car. Furtuna Mansion in Araklı and the Girls’ Monastery, with its rock church on Boztepe’s slopes, complete the itinerary. Modern Türkiye founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk decided at the pavilion in 1937 to donate his property to the nation.