May 11, 2011

old & new...Trabzon, Turkey

Remember I told you yesterday about a recently restored part of Trabzon? Well, today we've visited it. It's where the Walls of  Trabzon are. I'll tell you smth about the city...cause this is how I like to do things: If you bother to look at the pics, you should read smth about them too; this way we all have smth to win! :) Don't you agree? :) ok, then...
Trabzon ( Turkish :Trabzon) is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast. The Venetian and Genoese merchants paid visits to Trebizond during the medieval period and sold silklinen and woolen fabric; with the  Republic of Genoa having an important merchant colony within the city that was similar to Galata near Constantinople (across the Golden Horn) in present-day Istanbul.Trabzon formed the basis of several states in its long history and was the capital city of the Empire of Trebizond between 1204 and 1461. During the Ottoman period, Trabzon, because of the importance of its port, became a focal point of trade to Iran and the Caucasus.

The city was founded as Τραπεζοῦς (Trapezous) by Miletan traders (traditionally in 756 BC). It was one of a number (about ten) of Milesian emporia or  trading colonies along the shores of the Black Sea. Others include SinopeAbydos and Cyzicus (in the Dardanelles). Like most 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. Early banking (money-changing) activity is suggested occurring in the city according to a silver drachma coin from Trapezus in the British Museum London.Trebizond's trade partners included the Mossynoeci. When Xenophon and the Ten Thousand mercenaries were fighting their way out of Persia, the first Greek city they reached was Trebizond (Xenophon, Anabasis). 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. source

▼with Balint, one of the actors of the play "The Cold Child"
a summer stage :)
...these two..are like children together... :)) lovebirds...
The backside of the Trabzon Theatre.
loved the bloomy tree...
with Inna, another performer of the play...and, yeah, she's pregnant...she will play anyways! :)
with Inna and Vicky, part of our crew- two lovely ladies :)
Trabzon, as I said in the title of the post, is a mix of old and ruined structures and a dash of new and modern things.  Wherever you turn your head, there is smth you can see, you won't get bored. And the pic below speaks for itself.
gettin' ready for a festival show...
On the hotel terrace...waiting for the mini van to take us to the theatre. :)

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