The Matzouka (, ) was a geographical area and administrative subdivisionThe Empire of Trebizond was organised into seven ''banda'', comprising from west to east Trikomia, Palaiomatzouka, Matzouka, Trebizond, Gemora, Sourmaina and Rhizaion, plus the ''thema'' of Greater Lazia. ( ''bandon'') of the medieval

Empire of Trebizond The Empire of Trebizond or the Trapezuntine Empire was one of the three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire that existed during the 13th through to the 15th century. The empire consisted of the Pontus, or far northeastern corner of A ...

(1204–1461) in northeastern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

(modern

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 ...

). Its administrative capital was at Dikaisimon (modern Cevıslık). The area resisted for a while after the Ottoman conquest of Trebizond in 1461, but eventually submitted and became a ''

nahiye A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

'' 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 ...

. It is not attested before the 13th century, but it is possible that it existed already as part of the middle

Byzantine 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 the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

'' thema'' of

Chaldia Chaldia (, ''Khaldia'') was a historical region located in the mountainous interior of the eastern Black Sea, northeast Anatolia (modern Turkey). Its name was derived from a people called the ''Chaldoi'' (or '' Chalybes'') that inhabited the reg ...

, as the medieval administrative districts in the area coincided with geographical regions and have remained consistent to the present day. The boundaries of Matzouka extended south and southwest of Mount Minthrion (modern Boztepe), its southern limit along a line stretching from the Zigana summit of Mount Paryadres in the west and the Pontic Gates (modern Kolabat Bogazi) in the east. Its strategic importance was great, as it guarded the approaches to Trebizond, the capital of the empire, and as Matzouka was the heartland of the Empire of Trebizond. Around the capital of the district were the forests where the emperors had their summer palaces. The local inhabitants were peasants and pastoralists, and had a reputation as warriors, playing a notable role in the repulsion of Turkish raids. Between 1384 and 1408, the new ''bandon'' of Palaiomatzouka (Παλαιοματζούκα, "Old Matzouka") was carved from its southern portion.

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* * * * * {{cite encyclopedia , last = Lambakis , first = Stylianos , title = Ματζούκας Βάνδον , language = Greek , url = https://asiaminor.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaid=lemmaID=5241 , year = 2003 , encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor , publisher = Foundation of the Hellenic World Geography of Pontus Administrative divisions of the Empire of Trebizond