Yason Burnu

Yason Burnu, Cape Jason, is a low and flat peninsula reaching into the Black Sea within the boundaries of Çaytepe, in the Perşembe district of Ordu. The Ordu Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism gives its distance as 15 kilometres from the centre of Perşembe and 28 kilometres from the provincial centre. The cape forms the eastern end of the wide bay on whose shore Fatsa and Bolaman stand. According to an article by Hasan Buyruk of Ordu University in the journal Akdeniz Sanat, its ancient name was Iasonia Akte. According to an assessment quoted by Buyruk, this stretch of coast is the largest cape on the Turkish shore east of Sinop. The promontory, about 14 kilometres long, pushes three separate points out into the sea. Çam Burnu lies to the east, Çapraz Burnu in the middle, and the point known today as Yason Burnu to the west. According to the article, Çam Burnu was known in antiquity as Genetes Akroterion. The peninsula is about 610 metres across at its widest and some 30 metres at its narrowest, and at the rocks of the tip the width drops to 20 metres. The name of the cape is tied to one of the best known voyage stories of Greek mythology. According to the legend, Jason and the crew of the Argo sailed to Colchis in the eastern Black Sea in search of the Golden Fleece. According to a tradition told in the region, the Argonauts called at this shore and the cape took its name from them. Buyruk also points out that the account of Apollonius of Rhodes does not clearly say that the sailors landed on this coast. In other words, the link between the name and the legend is strong, but the legend itself is not a historical document. The history of the cape in written sources, however, is genuinely old. Xenophon writes in the sixth book of the Anabasis that the Greeks sailing west from Kotyora saw the Cape of Jason during their voyage. Strabo of Amasya also describes in his Geography how, travelling along the coast from Amisos, today's Samsun, one first reaches one cape and then another called Iasonion. Evliya Çelebi, who travelled this coast in the seventeenth century, describes the cape as a sharp point reaching out into the sea. The English traveller William John Hamilton, who passed through the region in the nineteenth century, also wrote that he reached this cape after Hoynat Castle. Today the peninsula is protected for both its nature and its history. According to the ministry inventory, the area was registered as a natural and archaeological site in 1991 and in 2004 received the status of a first degree archaeological and second degree natural protected area. Buyruk notes that many building remains can be traced at foundation level on the flat ground of the cape and that these are still waiting to be researched. The English Wikipedia reports that traces of ancient harbours and fish breeding pools can still be seen along the shore. There is also a nineteenth century building on the peninsula, and at the tip of the cape stands a lighthouse that guides sailors. The real draw of Yason Burnu is its view. The Provincial Directorate stresses that in summer both sunrise and sunset can be watched from here with the naked eye. According to Wikipedia, in clear weather the cape towards Ünye can also be made out to the west. Because the shore is rocky, the line where the waves break makes an impressive sight on windy days. Wikipedia writes that large amounts of seashells are found along the shores and that the area is also popular for diving and water sports. This is a place explored on easy walks. The Ordu Metropolitan Municipality has laid out walking paths, a car park and an information point in the area without harming its historic and natural fabric. First walk out to the tip of the cape to see the coves on either side and the lighthouse, then come back along the shore and follow the rocky edge. Yalancı Yason, also called Sülü Burnu, about 300 metres west of the peninsula, has a clean shore according to Buyruk and offers a second viewpoint. The rocks are slippery when wet, so step carefully along the shore and do not walk on the remains in the protected area. Yason Burnu lies on the old Ordu to Samsun road and is reached by a short link that leaves the main road. According to Wikipedia, the peninsula became fully open to tourism once the coastal road between Bolaman and Efirli was completed in 2008. You can come by vehicle along the coastal road from central Ordu or from Perşembe; for public transport, get current route information in the district. Those who want to watch the sunset should come on a summer evening, while those who love morning light should arrive in time for sunrise. If you continue east, the coastal road brings you after a few kilometres to the viewing terrace opposite Hoynat Island.