Most of the structures you see while touring Giresun belong to a different period. The castle is from Pontus, the museum building from a 19th-century church, the oldest of the mosques from the Seljuks. Knowing these layers changes the meaning of the visit.
The origin of the name and the cherry
The ancient name of the city is Cerasus (Kerasos). By the common account, the cherry was taken to Rome from this region, and the Latin name of the fruit, cerasus, came from here. This is the root of the words "cherry", "Kirsche" and "cerise" in European languages.
The historical certainty of the account is open to debate, but it is at the centre of the city's identity: Giresun tells itself through the cherry.
The Kingdom of Pontus
In the BC period the region was under the Kingdom of Pontus. The core of Giresun Castle reaches back to this period. The coast was one of the stops of Black Sea trade.
Giresun Island is also laden with the accounts of this period: in ancient sources it appears as the place where the Amazons built a temple in the name of the god of war, and it is mentioned in the legend of the Argonauts.
Rome and Byzantium
After Pontus the region came under Roman, then Byzantine rule. The castle was repaired according to each period's needs; the walls you see today do not belong to a single age but are layers laid on top of one another.
The Empire of Trebizond
In the 13th century the region was in the sphere of the Empire of Trebizond. In the same period there was a Seljuk and Mengujek presence in the interior: the Behramşah Mosque in Şebinkarahisar belongs to this period, to the Mengujeks.
The Ottoman period
The region came under Ottoman rule. According to the sources, the construction of the Şebinkarahisar Fatih Mosque began after Mehmed the Conqueror's 1473 victory at Otlukbeli. In 1586 the Kurşunlu Mosque was completed.
Trade continued on the coast; in the 19th century the hazelnut settled at the centre of the economy. The stone mansions in the Zeytinlik neighbourhood belonged to the hazelnut merchants of this period.
A multi-community past
In the late Ottoman period a Greek and Armenian population lived in the city. The Gogora Church, now a museum, the 1912 Catholic church, now a children's library, the Kırkharman church in Yağlıdere and the Kamışlı church in Alucra are the heritage of this population.
With the population exchange and migrations, this population left. Some of the structures took on new functions, some were abandoned.
The War of Independence and Topal Osman
The most controversial local figure of the period is Topal Osman Ağa. A power-holder who gathered the Giresun Volunteer Regiment (the "Giresun lads") and sent them to the fronts. In the same period he is also remembered for acts of violence against the region's non-Muslim population, and the assessment of him in Turkish historiography is sharply divided. His memorial tomb is inside Giresun Castle.
The Republican era
Atatürk visited Şebinkarahisar on 12 September 1924; the house where he stayed is now a museum. In the city the Gogora Church was used as a prison between 1948 and 1967, becoming a museum in 1988.
Throughout the 20th century the hazelnut continued to be the determinant of Giresun's economy. The round hazelnut is accepted as a quality benchmark on the world market.
Seeing the history
| Period | Where it is seen |
|---|---|
| Pontus | Giresun Castle, Giresun Island |
| Seljuk | Behramşah Mosque |
| Genoese | Tirebolu Castle |
| Ottoman | Fatih and Kurşunlu mosques |
| 19th century | Zeytinlik mansions, Gogora Church |
| Republic | Şebinkarahisar Atatürk House |
On the map
On the map many stops carry a period; you can trace Giresun's history from the coast inland.
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