Bolaman Kalesi ve Hazinedaroğlu Konağı

Bolaman Castle and Hazinedaroğlu Mansion are two buildings from different periods that stand together on a headland reaching gently into the sea in Bolaman neighbourhood, in the district of Fatsa. Located on the Ordu-Samsun highway, the site is about four kilometres from Fatsa and about thirty kilometres from Ordu city centre. Below is a castle of cut stone, and on top of the walls of its inner citadel stands a timber mansion with bay windows at both ends. The Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism presents this combination as a distinguished example of the region's civil architecture. The construction date of the castle is unknown. According to information reported by Anadolu Agency, its foundations were laid in the Byzantine period for watch and guard duties. English Wikipedia, on the other hand, reports the view that the castle was built by the Kingdom of Pontus as a watchtower fortress. According to Wikipedia, the headland on which the castle stands was once an island and became joined to the land over time. The castle consists of two parts, an inner and an outer castle. The inner castle is at the western end of the structure and is surrounded by high walls. The walls were built in a masonry technique using cut stone and rubble stone. According to Wikipedia, the south-facing walls on the land side of the castle reach a height of six metres. There are watchtowers on the walls surrounding the courtyard of the outer castle. The mansion sits on the walls of the inner castle, and its load-bearing supports are the castle stones themselves. The provincial directorate writes that the mansion was built in the 18th century, while Turkish Wikipedia dates it to the early 19th century; the sources differ on this point. It is also known as the Kademoğlu Mansion and the Şerefnur Hanım Mansion. According to Wikipedia, it is one of four mansions built in Bolaman by the Hazinedarzade family, and it was built as a guest house by Hazinedarzade Süleyman Pasha, governor of Trabzon. Over time it became the family's reception quarters. The earliest accounts describing the mansion come from 19th century travellers. The English geologist William John Hamilton wrote in 1836 that the owner of the house was a man named Ali Bey. About ten years later the French geographer Xavier Hommaire de Hell, who passed through, recorded that the mansion belonged to Ahmed Bey of the Hazinedarzade family. These two records show that the building was in the hands of one of the leading families of the region at that time. The mansion, built entirely of wood, has a single storey and is known for the large bay windows projecting towards the sea at both ends. The slanting timber struts supporting the bay windows from below show very clearly the transition between the stone body of the castle and the timber house. According to Wikipedia, the hall and the small pavilion are decorated with paintings of sea views and wood carvings. This image of a timber-clad house standing on a cut-stone body creates a silhouette that is hard to find elsewhere on the Black Sea coast. The mansion was restored faithfully to its original by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Anadolu Agency announced that work had begun to turn the building, which was used for other purposes for a time, into a city museum. According to the report, the mansion is owned by Ordu University and has been allocated to Fatsa Municipality. The planned museum aims to display objects telling the story of the region's daily life, from local farming tools to handicrafts. Since the building may be undergoing restoration or rearrangement, ask the operator before you go whether the interior is open. Even if the inside cannot be visited, the castle and the mansion are worth looking at from outside at length. The land-side facade of the mansion shows the stone body and the two bay windows in the same frame. Seen from the shore of the headland, the building's relationship with the sea is understood much better. Because Bolaman lies right beside the coastal highway between Ordu and Samsun, it is easily reached by car. For those coming from Fatsa, the distance is short, so the site can easily be added to a half-day coastal trip. Afternoon light makes the timber facade look warmer, while in the morning the shore is quieter. The nearby Gaga Lake and the plateau road into the interior of Fatsa are good options for continuing the trip.