Trabzon Tours

Sümela Monastery (Turkish: Sümela Manastırı; Panagia Soumela, “Virgin Mary of Soumela” in Greek) is a spectacular rock-hewn monastery perched dramatically on the narrow ledge of a steep cliff in the forests south of Trabzon. It was built in the fourth century, just before the Roman Empire split into east and west, by two Athenian priests, Barnabas and Sophronius, who, according to legend, found a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary in a cave. The monastery’s location in this geopolitically tumultuous corner of the globe naturally saw times of trouble and fell into ruin numerous times throughout its history, with its most thriving times falling under Byzantine and Ottoman rule.

The twentieth century, however, was not kind to the monastery. It was abandoned following the chaos and inter-ethnic violence at the end of World War I, and the population transfer of Trabzon’s (formerly Trebizond) Greek population to Greece. Its remote location gave it some sanctuary, but its frescoes still attracted the occasional casually hurled rock by a bored shepherd. The beautiful frescoes today suffer from decades of heart-wrenchingly pointless vandalism by travelers—judging from the various alphabets and names scrawled across these impressive religious works of art, it appears that just about every culture in the world has taken part in the desecration. The buildings themselves have been fairly heavily restored in recent decades, as the Turkish government has stepped in to protect the monastery and to turn it into a museum.

Hidirnebi Plateau (Hıdırnebi Yaylası). Beatiful place in Trabzon, Akçaabat. There is natural beauty. xxkm form Akçabaat, 40km from Trabzon. Transportation is provided by private car or tour. Grocery store, bakery, butcher, there are picnic area in Hıdırnebi . There are guided vehicles for transportation.

Aya Sofya Museum. A beautiful and picturesque church converted into a mosque and later into a museum that still has stunning frescoes within—just like its namesake in Istanbul. There is a peaceful open-air tea garden on the grounds. You can reach here by any Dolmuş marked ‘Aya Sofya’, which depart from the north side of Atatürk Alani square

Uzungöl, a lake up in the mountains 99 km from Trabzon, 19 km from Caykara and at an altitude of 1090 m. A great number of broken rocks from the slopes filled up Haldizen stream and Uzungöl was formed in this way. The lake is 1000 m long, 500 m in width and 15 m in depth. It is surrounded by forests. Uzungöl has an interesting view with the village houses around it. And there are some other small lakes on the mountains which are 15-20 km. from Uzungöl. The lake is also surrounded by convenient tracks for hiking. There are some facilities such as bungalows and some establishments which rear trout. Tourism agencies organise tours for the day in the summer.