Sinop
(2002 pop. 31,500). Sinop is a Turkish Black Sea coastal provincial capital. Named for the nymph Sinope and mentioned in the Argonautica of Appollonius, the city has two safe harbors and protective inland mountains. Earliest settlements date back to 4500 BCE. Ionians from Miletus founded a city in the eighth century BCE, where Cynic philosopher Diogenes was born in 404 BCE. For centuries the leading Black Sea port, Sinop was in turn Pontic capital, Roman colony, Byzantine port, and Comnene city after the Latin conquest of Constantinople in 1204. After Seljuk conquest in 1214, it was governed by the vizier Parvane and by Gazi Chelebi of the Seljuk dynasty in the name of the Ilkhanid Mongols. Genoese traders were active in the fourteenth century. The Ottomans originally took Sinop from the Isfendiogullari, but lost control during war with Timur (Tamerlane, 1336–1405). The Ottoman sultan Mehmet II incorporated the town in 1458. Sinop, with its mixed Muslim and Christian populations, provided ships for the Ottoman fleet. The port was attacked by Cossacks in 1614, and the Russian naval attack of 1853 started the Crimean War.
Forestry and grain agriculture have been traditional sources of revenue for Sinop, now connected to Samsun by road. In recent years it has been advertised as a tourist destination, with the natural environment and seafood restaurants the major attractions.
Further Reading
Freely, John. (1990) Classical Turkey. London: Penguin.
Government of Turkey. (2000) "Turkish Government Institute of Statistics." Retrieved 10 January 2000, from: http://www.die.gov.tr/Turkish/Sonist/Nu fus/sinop.gif.
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