Şebinkarahisar

Infobox Settlement

settlement_type = Town
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = TUR
timezone=EET
utc_offset=+2
map_caption =Location of Şebinkarahisar within Turkey.
timezone_DST=EEST
utc_offset_DST=+3

official_name = Şebinkarahisar

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subdivision_type1=Region
subdivision_name1 = Black Sea
subdivision_type2=Province
subdivision_name2 = Giresun| population_total = town: 13,200
population_as_of = 2008 TUIK
population_footnotes =
population_density_km2 =
area_total_km2 = 1394|elevation_m = 1352|latd = 40
latm = 17
latNS = N
longd = 35
longm = 26
longEW = E
postal_code_type=Postal code
postal_code = 28400
area_code = (+90) 454
blank_info = 28|blank_name=Licence plate
leader_title=Mayor
leader_name = Lütfullah Akdoğan (Nationalist Movement Party)
website = [http://www.sebinkarahisar.gov.tr/ Şebinkarahisar Governorate]

Şebinkarahisar is a town and a district of Giresun Province in the Black Sea region of eastern Turkey.

Etymology

During the Ottoman Empire the town was known as "Şarkikarahisar" (or in the Arabic-style alternative form "Karahisar-ı Şarki", both meaning "black castle of the East". Then in 1924 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk himself requested the name change to Şebinkarahisar.

History

Antiquity

In early antiquity the area was occupied by Hittites but the village of "Isola" (today's "Güneyören") village is the first known inhabited part of the city, during the Kingdom of Pontus). After it was conquered by the Romans the city center was moved to Nicopolis (later renamed Mavrakastoron by the Byzantines).

The Turkish Era

The first Turkish presence in the city dates back to the 6th century when Turkish tribes moved into Anatolia; they temporarily took control of the mid-east part of that region before being driven out by the Romans. The city was conquered by the Seljuk Turks in 1075, fell to Ottoman rule in 1478, and was renamed Keygune, and then Karahisar-ı Şarki, after the city's fortress. [tr icon [http://www.lavinya.net/galeri/hisar/sebinkarahisar.htm Tarihi] ]

The Shabin-Karahisar Resistance

The city was the location of the Shabin-Karahisar Resistance where the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party-allied Armenians held their ground for up to a month against the Ottoman forces, in June 1915, during the Armenian Genocide. [Simon Payaslian, "The Armenian Resistance at Shabin-Karahisar in 1915" 5th International conferences on Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces] [Richard G. Hovannisian, "The Armenian Genocide: History, Politics, Ethics" Published 1992 Palgrave Macmillan, p. 289, ISBN 0312048475] [Edmund Herzig, Marina Kurkichayan, "The Armenians: Past and Present in the Making of National Identity", Published 2005 Routledge, pg. 93, ISBN 0700706399] After a month of fighting, the Ottoman army defeated the resistance and massacred the remaining survivors. [Translated from the Armenian: Mihran Kurdoghlian, Badmoutioun Hayots, C. hador [Armenian History, volume III] , Athens, Greece, 1996, pg. 93.] [Richard G. Hovannisian, "The Armenian Genocide: History, Politics, Ethics" Published 1992 Palgrave Macmillan, p. 289, ISBN 0312048475]

The Republic of Turkey

When the republic was founded in 1923 the 10th Army was garrisoned here, bringing a boost to the local economy. Atatürk visited in 1924, on his way from seeing earthquake damage in Erzurum, and this was the occasion that he requested the name of the town be changed.

Geography

Şebinkarahisar itself is a quiet town of 13,200 (TÜİK 2008) people, 40km from the provincial city of Giresun, standing on the north side of the valley of the river Avutmuş in the Giresun Mountains.

The town is hard to reach, the road along the riverbank is windy and narrow, and services are hard to provide. The surrounding rural district is even more remote and many generations have left to jobs in cities like İstanbul and Ankara, although in summer the villages of Şebinkarahisar are busy with returning families on holiday.

The "Şebin walnut"' is a particular variety of walnut, grown on the valley sides [ [http://www.sebincevizi.net/ Þebin Cevizi.Net - Anasayfa ] ] , another local delicacies include a helva made from hazelnuts, Hoşmerim a kind of cheese pudding, small bread loaves called gilik, the corn and chick pea soup toyga çorbası, dolma made from the leaves of Curled Dock "evelik", stewed nettles and most of all the mulberry syrup, pekmez.

Places of interest

* Şebinkarahisar castle
* Beyramşah Camii - mosque built by the Seljuk Turks, in the neighbourhood of Avutmuş.
* Taşhanlar - Ottoman-period stone caravanserai, at the entrance to the castle
* Fatih Camii - Ottoman mosque next to the castle

Notable natives

*Rahşan Ecevit, political leader and wife of former Prime Minister of Turkey Bülent Ecevit
*Andranik Toros Ozanian, an Armenian general and national hero
*Toros Toramanian, an Armenian architect
*Ara Güler - photographer, was born to a Şebinkarahisar family,
*Aziz Nesin - writer, was born to a Şebinkarahisar family and at one stage campaigned for Şebinkarahisar to be made again into a province in its own right.
*Kemal Tahir - author, his father was from Şebinkarahisar
*Mehmet Emin Yurdakul (1869-1944), writer, former member of parliament for Şebinkarahisar

References

External links

* [http://www.lavinya.net/galeri/cat11.htm Photos of Şebinkarahisar] tr icon
* [http://www.sebinkarahisar.gov.tr/ The District Governorate] tr icon
* [http://www.sebinkarahisar.bel.tr/ The Municipality] tr icon
* [http://www.lavinya.net/galeri/hisar/sebinkarahisar.htm Local İnformation] tr icon
* [http://www.sebinkarahisarziraatodasi.com/default.aspx?pid=32678 More Photos] tr icon
* [http://www.sebinportal.com/component/option,com_zoom/Itemid,30/ and more] tr icon
* [http://www.sebinhaber.com/ Local News] tr icon