Boyabat is a town in

Sinop Province Sinop Province (; , ''Sinopi'') is a province of Turkey, along the Black Sea. It is located between 41 and 42 degrees North latitude and between 34 and 35 degrees East longitude. Its area is 5,717 km2, equivalent to 0.73% of Turkey's tot ...

in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is the seat of Boyabat District.İlçe Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 22 May 2023. Its population is 29,093 (2022). The mayor is Hasan Kara ( YRP). The town is in the Gökırmak ("blue river") valley, a river valley parallel to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

coast, located 100 km south of Sinop over the coastal mountain range, Isfendiyar Mountains. The town is the trade hub for over a hundred villages around it. Of larger centers nearby, up the Gökırmak valley to the west are Taşköprü, and

Kastamonu Kastamonu, formerly Kastamone/Castamone () and Kastamon/Castamon (), is a city in northern Turkey. It is the seat of Kastamonu Province and Kastamonu District.

; down the Gökırmak and later Kızılırmak ("red river") valley to the east you find Durağan,

Havza Havza (Ottoman حوضة) is a municipality and district of Samsun Province, Turkey. Its area is 865 km2, and its population is 38,492 (2022). The mayor is Sebahattin Özdemir ( AKP). Composition There are 98 neighbourhoods A neighbourho ...

Vezirköprü Vezirköprü is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Samsun Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,674 km2, and its population is 90,308 (2022). It is named after the Ottoman Albanian grand vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha. History At ...

, and

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

Name

The name Boyabat is said to consist of "boy" which means border and the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

suffix "abad" (آباد) which means built/cultivated town/agricultural landscape. It bears witness to the fact that the border between the

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 ...

and the empire of 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 ...

was once here.

History

Boyabat town was built below an imposing castle which probably has not been in serious use since around 1300 A.D. but may be as old as 2800 years. Kazdere/Gazidere, a tributary of

Gök River The Gök River or Gökırmak ( Turkish for "Sky River") is a tributary of the Kızılırmak in Turkey. In the past it was called Amnias (). Its source is in Kastamonu Province. It may have been known to the Hittites as the Sariya. It was a holy r ...

, passes through the town. It cuts the rock that the

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

is perched on with a dramatic pair of vertical walls. The wall on the castle side has a window on the rock face illuminating descending tunnels to a newly discovered large underground city from Roman times. The tunnels may also have served for water supply and safe passage during siege. The castle overlooks the Gökırmak valley. This valley is long and lies parallel with the

coast. Together with the similarly placed Yeşilırmak (river) valley further east, it forms a natural east-west pathway used since the antiquity as a trade route, possibly as part of the silk road. The castle may have served to protect this trade route. Being a suitable distance from Durağan, Hanönü and Taşköprü, it may have provided safe stop for caravans. The older history of Boyabat may have started from Bronze Age, and it may have been ruled by

Kaskians The Kaska (also Kaška, later Tabal (state), Tabalian Kasku and Gasga) were a loosely affiliated Bronze Age non-Indo-European tribal people, who spoke the unclassified Kaskian language and lived in mountainous East Pontus (region), Pontic Anatolia ...

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

Paphlagonians 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 to the east, and separated from Phrygia (later, Galatia) by a prolongati ...

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 ...

ns,

Lydians The Lydians (Greek language, Greek: Λυδοί; known as ''Sparda'' to the Achaemenids, Old Persian cuneiform Wikt:𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭, 𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭) were an Anatolians, Anatolian people living in Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spo ...

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

kingdom, and Romans. It served as a border castle between Lydia (later Roman Empire) and the Pontus kingdom a thousand year before it was again a border between Seljuqs and Byzantians. Since it has been captured a few decades after the

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 ...

(1071) by

Gazi Gümüshtigin Gazi Gümüshtigin (died 1104), also known as Melikgazi Gümüshtigin was the second ruler of the Danishmendids which his father Danishmend Gazi had founded in central-eastern Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert. Biography He succeeded hi ...

, the second leader of the

Danishmends The Danishmendids or Danishmends () were a Turkish dynasty. These terms also refer to the Turkish Anatolian Beyliks, state in Anatolia. It existed from 1071/1075 to 1178 and is also known as the Danishmendid Beylik (). The dynasty was centered or ...

- a wassal of the

Seljuq 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. T ...

- the area has been under the rule of several Turkish states (Danishmends,

Seljuq Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of t ...

, Pervaneoğulları, Jandarids,

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 ...

, Turkish Republic) and has been spared from military conflicts and battles on its territory during the last 500 years. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Boyabat was part of the Kastamonu Vilayet of the

Today

The main income source of the area is agriculture, animal husbandry, and some forest related activities. Of agricultural produce Boyabat is renowned for its rice. Rice fields cover the bottom of Gökirmak and Kizilirmak valleys. The town boasts some local industry, notably brick, tiles, and ceramic production, unhusking and polishing of rice, and tanning. Mondays a weekly bazaar is held in Boyabat center and the town overflows with farmers and merchants of the area. A larger several days long yearly event "Panayır" (fair) is held in autumn (starting the second Wednesday of October) just outside town center. It lasts several days and attracts participants from a much larger area. The local character of Boyabat is reflected in the characteristic old houses below the castle, handwoven traditional scarves popular among the farmer ladies and woodprint scarves among town ladies.

Davul The davul, dhol, tapan, atabal or tabl is a large double-headed drum that is played with mallets. It has many names depending on the country and region. These drums are commonly used in the music of the Middle East and the Balkans. These drums ...

and

zurna The zurna is a double reed wind instrument played in Central Asia, West Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast Europe and parts of North Africa. It is also used in Sri Lanka. It is usually accompanied by a davul (bass drum) in Armenian, Anatolian and Ass ...

music is the hallmark of weddings. They lead processions through the town carrying gifts to the wedding house. On arrival, the drummer in full traditional drummer outfit performs a drumplaying dance to the music of zurna. Another Boyabat tradition kept alive is the whole grilled lamb kebab served in special restaurants. Village weddings and the Panayır (fair) also include a wrestling championship performed to the tune of davul and zurna, playing non-stop epic "Köroğlu" melodies (typically in five eight rhythm) in the background. Like every other similar town in Turkey, a large number of people originating from Boyabat now live in large metropolitan centers, mainly Istanbul some 650 km or a 10 hours bus ride away. During the latest decades Boyabat town itself has also expanded greatly by the building of apartment blocks. The plan of the city is altered by a wide thoroughfare which also attracted arenas of business out from the old shopping district.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMNhiLDOWSc Boyabat town drone overflight video 1080p The countryside around has also seen dramatic changes. A belt of planted pine forests, a dry canal diverting flash floods away from town center, factories on the plains west of the town etc. The construction of the Boyabat Dam on the Kızıl River near Duragan (operational since 2012), a tunnel to avoid the highest peak of the mountain pass towards Sinop (operational since 2009) were major infrastructure projects in the area.

Notable natives

* Yusuf Kemal Tengirşenk (1873–1976): Foreign minister of Turkey * Tayyareci Nuri Bey (1890–1914): Piloting pioneer * Salih Zeki Bey (1864–1921): Mathematics professor

References

External links

Boyabat, Sinop : Where is it in Turkey?
schematic map, part of th
Atlas of Turkey
which also contains historic maps of the region.
Boyabat pictures taken by traveller Dick Osseman in June 2005

News from Boyabat
{{Boyabat District Populated places in Sinop Province Boyabat District District municipalities in Turkey