Espiye is a town in Giresun Province in the Black Sea region of

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 ...

. It is the seat of Espiye District.İlçe Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023. Its population is 26,671 (2022).

Etymology

"Espiye" and its earlier spelling, "Esbüyeli", are the Turkish names for the district. Espiye is thought to be formed from two parts: "Esb", a Persian word meaning "horse" and the Turkish "-yeli" and "-yelü" suffix meaning "from" or "of", or possibly the suffix "yalı", a

radix In a positional numeral system, the radix (radices) or base is the number of unique digits, including the digit zero, used to represent numbers. For example, for the decimal system (the most common system in use today) the radix is ten, becaus ...

or generic word meaning " shore" or " waterside". So, Esbüyeli means "the land of horses" or "stables" or, alternatively, "the stables on the waterside".Espiye'nin Tarihi (History of Espiye in the official site of Espiye Municipality. Translation by Prof.Dr. Zeynel Cebeci)

History

Antiquity

There is very limited information about the ancient history of Espiye, but slightly more of the larger nearby town of Tirebolu. The area was part of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

and its successors, 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 Trebizond. Copper was mined here in the 1st century AD, and Andoz Castle was later built on the west side of the modern day town, a sister castle of Tripolis (modern day Tirebolu), and Bedrama (or Bedrum) in the Harşit valley to the east of Espiye. However, the castle was too small to be the heart of a civil settlement. Measuring only 90 feet (27.43 m) by 20 feet (6.09 m), it was most likely used as a watchtower for advance warning of invading ships on 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 ...

The Turkish era

In the Ottoman Land Registry of 1515, "Esbüyeli" has been defined as " Çepni Eli" (" Chepni Province" or "Chepni's Homeland") and registered to ''Mustafa Bey I, son of Eshter Bey''. The Chepni were a branch of the Oghuz Turks which between the 12th and 16th centuries settled in Kürtün in the mountains to the south of Espiye. The Chepni had a powerful cavalry of ten thousand horses, and therefore captured many districts on the

coast too, establishing the

Anatolian beylik Anatolian or anatolica may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the region Anatolia * Ancient Anatolians, Anatolians, ancient Indo-European peoples who spoke the Anatolian languages * Anatolian High School, a type of Turkish educational in ...

of Haci Emirli in Mesudiye to the west of Giresun. In 1397, Suleyman Bey, commander of the Haci Emirli Beylik in the name 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 ...

, attacked the Greek armies of Trebizond and conquered Giresun. With this victory, the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

took control of the coastal zone and Suleyman Bey was named "Conqueror of Giresun" by the Chepni, in respect to their victorious leader. However, Espiye was still within the territory of the Empire of Trebizond. Sixty-four years later, in 1461, the Ottoman Emperor Fatih Sultan Mehmet moved against Trebizond in order to control the northeast end of his empire and quickly brought the

coast into the

. Mehmet then gave control of the lands of Giresun, including Espiye, to the Chepnis in return for their support during the expedition. Moreover, he exempted them from paying taxes. According to the registry of 1515, Espiye was a very small village consisting of sixteen houses plus six houses in the Andoz Castle; meaning, the population of Espiye must have been 80–100, a village in the district of Tirebolu. After the foundation of the

Republic of 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 ...

in 1923, Espiye was still a subdistrict of Tirebolu but, in 1957, it became a district in its own right.

Geography

The small plain between the rivers Yağlıdere and Gelevara, Espiye has typical characteristics of the eastern

region of

, both in its hilly topography and its wet climate. The town of Espiye is on the Black Sea coast, from Giresun. The

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 ...

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

Black Sea coast highway runs through here. Behind the town the land sharply rises to the south up into the Giresun Mountains. The highest point is Akılbaba Tepesi. The countryside is very attractive in all shades of green; the higher mountainous area is mainly covered with dense forests of pines, firs, spruces, chestnuts, oaks, hornbeams, rhododendrons, beeches, and alders, while the coastal zone (up to 20–30 km inland) is densely planted with

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus '' Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according to ...

trees and some tea. The climate is generally rainy all year round; it is cool and rainy in summer and warm and rainy in winter in the coastal zones, but snowy in the mountainous area in the south. The local cuisine includes the

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

-style pide and of course fish from the Black Sea.

References

External links

Espiye photo gallery by Espiye Municipality
{{Authority control Populated places in Espiye District Fishing communities in Turkey Populated coastal places in Turkey District municipalities in Turkey