Bolu Province () is a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in north-western

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, between the capital,

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, and the largest city in the country,

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. Its area is 8,313 km,², and its population is 320,824 (2022). The capital city of the province is

Bolu Bolu is a city in northern Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province and of Bolu District,Yedigöller National Park. There is also another area consisting of a lake and its surroundings that is under protection by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry as a '

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscapes are pres ...

' that is called Gölcük. There is a structure on the shore of the lake named the State Guesthouse of the Ministry of Forestry. Near the nature park is an artificial lake; the lake is to the south of the city of Bolu.

History

It is not known when Bolu was first established. Some archaeological findings that date back about 100,000 years suggest the region was inhabited then. The area now in Bolu Province was in eastern

Bithynia Bithynia (; ) was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Paphlagonia to the northeast a ...

and southwestern

Paphlagonia Paphlagonia (; , modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; ) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia (later, Galatia ...

. The town of Bithynium, from which the area takes its name, is the modern

Bolu Bolu is a city in northern Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province and of Bolu District,Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

period. The Romans named it Claudiopolis, and it was called Bolu by the Turks. By approximately 375 BCE, Bithynia had gained its independence from

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

under

Artaxerxes II Arses (; 445 – 359/8 BC), known by his regnal name Artaxerxes II ( ; ), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 405/4 BC to 358 BC. He was the son and successor of Darius II () and his mother was Parysatis. Soon after his accession, Ar ...

, and King Bas subsequently defeated

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

's attempt to take it. The Bithynian region, with parts of Paphlagonia remained its own kingdom until 88 BCE, when it briefly came under

Mithridates VI Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator (; 135–63 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an effective, ambitious, and r ...

and the

Kingdom of Pontus Pontus ( ) was a Hellenistic kingdom centered in the historical region of Pontus in modern-day Turkey, and ruled by the Mithridatic dynasty of Persian origin, which may have been directly related to Darius the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty. ...

. With Roman's help, the last Bithynian king, Nicomedes IV, regained his throne, but on his death bequeathed the kingdom to Rome. This led to the

Third Mithridatic War The Third Mithridatic War (73–63 BC), the last and longest of the three Mithridatic Wars, was fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic. Both sides were joined by a great number of allies, dragging the entire east of th ...

and the fall of Pontus, after which the area was incorporated into the Roman Empire as a single province, merging Paphlagonia with Bithynia. Under the falling

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, the Bolu area was divided from western Bithynia at the

Sakarya River The Sakarya (; ; ; ) is the third longest river in Turkey. It runs through the region known in ancient times as Phrygia. It was considered one of the principal rivers of Asia Minor (Anatolia) in Greek classical antiquity, and is mentioned in th ...

, with western Bithynia keeping the name. The Sakarya River remains the southern and western boundary of the province. After the victory of Malazgirt in 1071, the Turkmens spread to the west and settled in Bolu 3 years later. The Turkmens who settled in

Bolu Bolu is a city in northern Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province and of Bolu District,Bulgar, Pecheneg, Uz and Cuman Turks that the

's had brought from the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

long before and later. Bolu and its villages were completely Turkified and took the names of the Turkic tribes. The Turks who came from the Balkans became

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, but they did not forget the

Turkic language The Turkic languages are a language family of more than 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and West Asia. The Turkic langua ...

, customs and traditions. They became

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

in a short time. The Byzantine Empire briefly lost the Bolu area to the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

after the 1071

Battle of Manzikert The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, Iberia (theme), Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army ...

but recovered it under

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

. After the end of the

Komnenos dynasty The House of Komnenos ( Komnenoi; , , ), Latinized as Comnenus ( Comneni), was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire in the 11th and 12th centuries. The first reigning member, Isaac I Komnenos, ruled from 1057 to 1059. T ...

, the Turks gradually reclaimed the Bolu area back. In approximately 1240, the Seljuk Turks took the eastern part of the Bolu area (i.e., the Paphlagonian part) from the Byzantine Empire and incorporated it into the

Sultanate of Rum The Sultanate of Rum was a culturally Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim state, established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. ...

. Due to their assistance in taking it and Sinop, the Chobanids were given that territory and adjacent areas to the north and east to govern. That eastern area fell to the

Isfendiyarids The Candar dynasty (, transliterated as Jandar in English), also known as the Isfendiyar dynasty (), was a Turkish Anatolian Beylik (principality) founded by Oghuz Turks. that reigned in the territories corresponding to the provinces of Eflan ...

in 1292 and was controlled by them until 1461, after which it was incorporated into the rest of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Mehmed II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

. By 1265, the western part of the Bolu area was again acquired by the Seljuk Turks, but it fell to

Orhan Orhan Ghazi (; , also spelled Orkhan; died 1362) was the second sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1323/4 to 1362. He was born in Söğüt, as the son of Osman I. In the early stages of his reign, Orhan focused his energies on conquering mos ...

and the Ottoman Empire in the early to mid-1300s. The two areas were reunited in 1461, under Mehmed II. In the 1864 Ottoman Empire administrative reorganization, Bolu was made into an independent

sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

, although it was geographically part of the Kastamonu Vilayet.

Administrative divisions

Bolu province is divided into nine

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

, four sub-districts, thirteen municipalities, and 491 villages.

Districts

Bolu Bolu is a city in northern Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province and of Bolu District,Dörtdivan * Gerede * Göynük * Kıbrıscık * Mengen *

Mudurnu Mudurnu is a small town in Bolu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, 52 km south-west of the city of Bolu. It is the seat of Mudurnu District.

* Seben *

Yeniçağa Yeniçağa is a town in Bolu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, 38 km from the town of Bolu, on the Otoyul 4 highway from Istanbul to Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest cap ...

Main sites

* Lake Abant, a mountain lake resort and hot springs * Yedigöller National Park. The name means "seven lakes" in Turkish, referring to the number of lakes in this forest park. * The Köroğlu Mountains, said to be the scene of the folk '' Epic of Köroğlu'' * Kartalkaya, ski resort * Göynük Akshemseddin Mausoleum * Sarıalan, a lake high in the mountains above Kartalkaya * The Aladağ mountains, including the trail and picnic area of Gölcük Towns include: * Mengen *

Mudurnu Mudurnu is a small town in Bolu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, 52 km south-west of the city of Bolu. It is the seat of Mudurnu District.

(the ancient town of Modrenea) * Gerede

References

External links