Şebinkarahisar Castle and the Stone Town Beneath It

A fortress town on the Kelkit Basin

Şebinkarahisar offers the opposite of the seaside scenery that usually comes to mind when people say Giresun. According to the tourism guide of the district governorate, the district lies in the Eastern Black Sea Region, south of the Giresun mountains and in the Kelkit Basin, at an altitude of 1300 metres. The TDV Encyclopaedia of Islam says the town was founded on the inner slopes of the Giresun mountains, on a sloping surface between 1300 and 1360 metres above sea level. A traveller leaving the Black Sea coast therefore crosses the mountains and arrives in a different landscape, with the open and cooler air of the interior. The districts of Dereli, Yağlıdere, Alucra, Çamoluk, Akıncılar, Gölova, Suşehri, Koyulhisar and Mesudiye surround Şebinkarahisar. Official sources give different figures for the distance to Giresun city. The Culture Portal says 109 kilometres by road and the district governorate says 118, so the journey is roughly 110 to 120 kilometres. The distances of 198 kilometres to Sivas and 124 kilometres to Erzincan show the town's position on the roads that lead into the interior. The structure that defines the town is the castle. TDV notes that the ruins of the castle that gave the town its name stand on a basalt rock to the east. The castle looks down on the town and can be seen from almost everywhere in it, so it is the natural starting point of a visit.

From Koloneia to Şebinkarahisar, a trail of names

The name of this castle and town changed many times over the centuries, and the sequence of names summarises the history of the place. According to TDV, it was known as Koloneia in the ninth and tenth centuries. In the eleventh century it was called Mavrokastron, and in the twelfth century this name appears as the other name of both the town and the castle. The name Karahisar, the Turkish form of Mavrokastron, was given by the Turks in the fourteenth century, according to the same source. In Ottoman times, so that it could be told apart from other places called Karahisar because of its alum mine, it was called Şapkarahisar or Şarkikarahisar. The present name Şebinkarahisar appeared in the nineteenth century. In the seventeenth century the name Karahisar-ı Hasan-ı Dırazi was also used, which comes from the place having belonged earlier to the Akkoyunlu. Each of these names reflects the administration and economy of an era. The information TDV gives about the founding of the castle is also cautious. It is said that the castle, which seems to have shaped the settlement, was built by Pompeius in Roman times, but the source adds that the settlement is older than that. The Culture Portal likewise states that the castle has no inscription and that there is information that its first founding goes back before the Roman period. In short, there is no certain founding date, and the castle should be read as a structure that grew layer by layer.

Outer and inner castle on Hacı Kayası

The Culture Portal describes the castle as standing on a hill known as Hacı Kayası that dominates the town. Shaped by the topography of the terrain, the castle consists of two parts, an outer and an inner castle. The entrance gate, reached from the town by a stepped path, has a pointed arch and a semicircular tower on each side. Built of stone, the gate is also called the Seljuk Gate. Fifteen to twenty metres to the northeast of it is another gate, evidently blocked later and said to belong to the Byzantine period. The large oval bastion at the northwest of the outer castle is called Kızlar Kalesi in the sources. The towers on the south and east sides are quite ruined. For photographers, the semicircular towers at the gate and the rock-cut steps give the most striking frames. While climbing, pausing between the steps and turning back to the town is the easiest way to understand why the castle was built on this rock. The wide view still makes the watching and defensive purpose of the castle felt today.

The octagonal tower and the cisterns

The inner castle sits on rocky ground fifteen to twenty metres inside the outer courtyard and is entered through a gate supported by towers. The tower is entered through a gate with a low arch whose opening measures between 1.54 and 1.90 metres. A staircase of forty-two steps leads up to the loopholed parapets. The tower is 27 metres high, and every face except the one with the door has seven windows. Apart from this large tower, the walls of the inner castle are reinforced by four small towers with semicircular plans. About 2.70 metres south of the tower is a cistern measuring 6.20 by 4.20 metres and 8 metres deep, carved into the rock from below and covered with rubble stone and Horasan mortar. Water is vital for a castle. The Culture Portal writes that there are many rock-cut cisterns large and small inside the castle, the most important being a water tunnel called Kırk Badal. These cisterns were part of the arrangement that let the castle hold out for a long time during sieges.

Layer upon layer of history

The history of the castle follows the sequence of states that held the town. TDV writes that the castle was rebuilt in the time of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I and made an important outpost on the northeastern frontier. Soon after the victory of Malazgirt, the Turks took control of the town. Until the region passed to the Ottomans it was under Turkish principalities, and TDV lists administrations such as the Danishmendids, the Saltukids and the Mengücek line subject to the Seljuks. The Culture Portal reports that most of the walls were rebuilt in the Mengücek period. It is stated in particular that Fahrettin Behramşah, one of the Mengücek rulers, had important additions made to the castle in 1184. The sources differ in detail about the order of rulers, so it is more accurate to say that the castle carries Byzantine, Seljuk-era and Ottoman layers together than to give a fixed sequence. The present entrance and walls of the castle belong to the Seljuk and Ottoman periods. Mehmed the Conqueror took the castle in 1473 after the Battle of Otlukbeli, which he won against the Akkoyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan. TDV adds that because the castle commander surrendered, the town centre was not damaged. The castle suffered damage in the twentieth century and from earthquakes, and was last repaired in 2003. This information makes it easier to understand, as you approach the walls, why the stones carry the marks of different periods.

The alum mine and the economy of the town

To understand why the castle stands at this point, look at the mines. According to TDV, the castle controlled the nearby alum mine and the mining road running north to Giresun. The alum mine in the pink rocks on the western part of this road was, according to the source, famous since antiquity and exported to Europe. Alum was used in making medicines, polishing gold and silver, dyeing and tanning. TDV states that in the twelfth century the growing alum demand of the European textile industry was met largely from Anatolia, especially with alum extracted at Şebinkarahisar. When Ottoman rule began, the mine was transferred to the treasury and the mining villages formed a group, called kura-yı şaphane in the sources. Because of the mines, the sanjak reached the sea in a narrow corridor through the Ordu and Bulancak area, which gave an advantage for transport. According to sixteenth-century survey records, the castle guards numbered 279, of whom 191 were castle soldiers. This figure shows that the castle was a centre securing the safety of the region. Evliya Çelebi, who passed through Şebinkarahisar in 1647, writes that there were seventy houses inside the castle, and TDV notes that it is doubtful that his house counts reflect reality. The Culture Portal says that his Seyahatname mentions many cisterns and grain stores inside the castle.

Walking beneath the castle

After descending from the castle, the stone architecture of the town is a subject in itself for a walk. The tourism guide of the district governorate describes the historic Şebinkarahisar houses as stone and masonry buildings of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries reflecting traditional architecture. Abdi Bey Mansion was built in 1866 and stands in the Avutmuş neighbourhood. Akşenler Mansion draws attention with its stonework and dates from the late nineteenth century. Taşhanlar is a han built in 1647 by Taban Mehmet Ağa. The historic fountains give the walk a different rhythm. Kurşunlu Fountain was built in the Taş neighbourhood between 1648 and 1652 by Topal Mehmet Paşa, and Eyvan Fountain, also in the Taş neighbourhood, between 1710 and 1712 by Saip Efendi. Osman Paşa Fountain dates from 1831 and is in the Fatih neighbourhood. Alay Fountain dates from 1875 and is in the Bülbül neighbourhood. Müftü Efendi Fountain dates from the eighteenth century. Among the district's mosques, Behramşah Mosque was built at the end of the twelfth century in the name of Behramşah of the Mengücek line by his son Muzafferüddin Muhammed. Construction of Fatih Mosque began in 1473, after the Battle of Otlukbeli, and was completed within five years. These two buildings complete the architectural side of the historic fabric around the castle. Along the walk you will find the streets narrow and sloping, and shoes with a good grip make this part easier.

Practical guide

The castle is reached from the town by a stepped path. Because of the slope of the stairs, the rock-cut steps and the hillside, care is needed while climbing. It is wise not to go up on slippery ground, in rain or in icy conditions, and to be extra careful with children and older visitors. All or parts of the structure may be closed to access at times because of work and repair, so it is sensible to ask the Giresun Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism or the Şebinkarahisar District Governorate for the current situation before you go. For entry conditions and hours, consult the official sites. Because the town lies at 1300 metres, the weather is very different from the coast, so an extra layer for the season and some water make good preparation. Choose closed shoes that grip stone steps. Çağlayan Waterfall, Kılıçkaya Dam Pond, Dikmetaş Pond and the Baltaşı and Çatalgöl tourist living areas are among the natural attractions listed by the district governorate, and you can combine the castle visit with one of them. Local products include Şebin walnuts, pestil and köme, mulberries, molasses, cornelian cherries, oven-dried fruit and flower honey. Among local dishes is Toyga soup. If you come from Giresun by road, allow for the roughly 110 to 120 kilometres of the route and plan your return early.

Sources

• Şebinkarahisar Kalesi, Kültür Portalı, https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/giresun/gezilecekyer/sebinkarahisar-kalesi
• Şebinkarahisar entry, TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/sebinkarahisar
• Turizm Rehberi, Şebinkarahisar Kaymakamlığı, https://www.sebinkarahisar.gov.tr/turizm-rehberi
• Şebinkarahisar Kalesi, Vikipedi, https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Şebinkarahisar_Kalesi