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The Ortamahalle Houses of Akçaabat and Lake Sera
Cultural

The Ortamahalle Houses of Akçaabat and Lake Sera

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Because it is so close to Trabzon, Akçaabat is known as a seaside town that most visitors pass through to eat köfte. Yet on the steep slope just behind the shore, among gardens facing the sea, stands one of the best preserved traditional house fabrics of the eastern Black Sea.

Akçaabat, Trabzon
Cultural
Radar Editör
October 19, 2026

About Trip

Because it is so close to Trabzon, Akçaabat is known as a seaside town that most visitors pass through to eat köfte. Yet on the steep slope just behind the shore, among gardens facing the sea, stands one of the best preserved traditional house fabrics of the eastern Black Sea. This trip suggests reading Akçaabat from that slope: in the morning, looking at the house fronts in the stepped streets of Ortamahalle; in the afternoon, a short excursion to Lake Sera just behind the coast; and in the evening, finishing on the seafront.

From Platana to Akçaabat

The town's oldest known name is Platana. Turkish Wikipedia and the Trabzon Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism write that the name means "plane tree" in Greek and that over the following centuries it turned into Pulathane and Polathane. Where the name Akçaabat comes from is not certain; the directorate reports one tradition that it was given in the sense of "a place made prosperous by money, a rich place", and notes that other explanations have also been put forward. English Wikipedia states that the town was founded as a trading colony of Miletus and served as a natural harbour for Trabzon. Wikipedia reports that Evliya Çelebi, who came to Akçaabat in 1640, wrote that ten thousand people gathered at the weekly Platana market. Today too, according to the municipality's visitor map, the largest market in the area is held in Akçaabat.

The directorate writes that Akçaabat was a township in the Ottoman period and that its district administration was set up in 1897. The town was occupied by Russia in the spring of 1916 and liberated in February 1918; the directorate and Wikipedia give different days for the liberation. The municipality's map says the district's climate is a mix of Black Sea and Mediterranean, and that olives, strawberries and citrus fruit are grown. Wikipedia reports that an 1886 record mentions 120 thousand olive trees on the Akçaabat coast, and that tobacco held an important place in the district until the end of the nineties.

Getting there

The study of traditional Akçaabat houses published by Emine Saka Akın, Sevinç Ertürk and Hamiyet Özen places the district 13 kilometres west of the centre of Trabzon; the municipality's map gives the distance to Trabzon airport and port as 15 kilometres. It is easy to get there by the minibuses and buses that run from central Trabzon along the coast road. The same map shows Ortamahalle 1 kilometre from the district centre and Lake Sera 1 kilometre from the coast. So the whole of this trip can be done on foot plus one short ride. The streets of Ortamahalle are steep and stepped; wear shoes with a grip, not flat soles.

Four neighbourhoods between streams

The study by Akın, Ertürk and Özen writes that the historic centre of the town consists of four neighbourhoods separated from each other by streams: Dürbinar, Ortamahalle, Nefsipulathane and Çolaklı. They are divided by the Kireçhane, Akçaabat, Hamam and Çolaklı streams. Unlike today's town centre, the old houses are not on the shore but on the hills to the south of the centre, starting at 50 to 60 metres above sea level and climbing up to 110 to 120 metres; the researchers note that the slope on these hills exceeds thirty per cent. To the south, the neighbourhoods are linked to one another by a footpath that follows the contour lines at roughly 100 to 110 metres. According to the study, Ortamahalle is where traditional houses are densest, and 53 of the houses in the district are registered.

Akçaabat Municipality's visitor map describes Ortamahalle as one of the rare settlements where examples of nineteenth century Ottoman civil architecture have come down to the present together with their streets, stairs, walls and fountains, and stresses that the fabric shows unity not in single houses but at the scale of the street and the neighbourhood. According to a news report, the area was declared a conservation site in 1988; the same report says the neighbourhood has close to a hundred registered houses. The provincial directorate also counts Akçaabat's Orta Mahalle houses among the foremost model settlements in the Black Sea region.

How to read a house

When you stand in front of a house in Ortamahalle, the first thing you will notice is that it turns its back to the street. According to the researchers, all these houses stand within gardens; the edge of the street is drawn by garden walls rather than by houses, the main entrance is mostly from the garden, and the houses sit parallel to the slope and the view. The fronts face north and east, that is, towards the sea. The houses stand apart and do not block one another's view; the study writes that not a single attached example was found. Garden walls are kept high enough on the street side to hide the ground floor and low on the side of the view.

Then look at the front. According to the study, the main front is plastered and painted and symmetrical, and on the upper floor the central hall projects over the entrance as an open or closed bay. This projection is usually finished with a triangular pediment, with a round or diagonally patterned rosette in its centre. Timber bands run between the floors and around the corners. The windows have stone or timber frames; stone on the ground floor, timber on the upper floor, and their tops usually carry a keystone. Under the projection a raised entrance space forms, reached by a few steps; the researchers count this among the most characteristic features of Akçaabat houses. In a survey carried out in 1994 with fifty people living in the area, participants were found to recognise Akçaabat houses most of all by their triangular pediments.

Even if you cannot go inside, the study helps you read the front. The plan is mostly of the inner hall type: in 48 of the 53 houses examined the hall lies in the middle of the house and the rooms line up symmetrically on either side. No house has a stable or hayloft on the ground or basement floor; basements were used as stores, pantries and granaries. Interior decoration is also very plain; according to the study the ceilings are timber trough ceilings, hearths, built-in cupboards and niches are mostly unadorned, and among the houses examined only one had a decorated coffee niche at the end of the upper hall. In houses without a basement the ground floor is raised by between 50 centimetres and one and a half metres; this is why many houses are entered not from the street but by a short flight of steps in front of the entrance. The researchers explain the absence of large differences in size and ornament between the houses by the closeness of income levels in this community, which lived from trade rather than farming.

A walking suggestion

Climb up to Ortamahalle from the district centre by choosing one of the stepped streets. Do not hurry; over every garden wall a pediment, a rosette or a bay comes into view. When you reach the upper part of the neighbourhood, turn and look down: only from above can you see that all the houses face the same way, towards the sea. Then you can follow the path into one of the neighbouring quarters, crossing another stream to see how the same architectural language is repeated there. Some mansions have been restored and turned into places to stay and to eat; apart from these, the houses are lived-in homes, so do not enter the gardens and do not point your lens at the windows.

A short excursion to Lake Sera

In the afternoon, go down to the coast and head west towards Yıldızlı. Turkish Wikipedia writes that Lake Sera formed on 21 February 1950, when rocks breaking away from the slopes of the Derecik Valley after heavy rainfall blocked the valley, that the lake reached its full form in 18 days, and that its surroundings were declared a nature park in 2010. Walking, enjoying the view and picnicking are possible around the lake. You do not need a long programme here; a turn along the shore, a look at the wooded slopes on both sides of the valley and a return to the coast fit the rhythm of this day.

If you want to reach Akçakale

If you have time left, you can continue west along the coast road to Akçakale; the municipality's map shows the castle and beach 8 kilometres from the district centre. English Wikipedia writes that during the conquest of Trabzon the first clash between the Ottoman navy and the navy of the Empire of Trebizond took place west of Akçaabat harbour, off Akçakale, and that Mehmed II used Akçaabat as his base for the conquest of Trabzon. According to the same source, Akçakale, whose name means "the White Castle", held out until 1468. This short coastal excursion completes the relationship with the sea of the town you looked at from the slope in the morning.

At the table and at the festival

Akçaabat's name is known all over Türkiye for its köfte. The municipality's map writes that the köfte comes with bean salad and cornbread. The town also has a dance: English Wikipedia notes that Akçaabat is known for the Akçaabat horon and that it has hosted an international folk dance festival since 1990; the municipality writes that the festival is held every July. Wikipedia also reports that the kemençe, the drum and zurna, and the bağlama are the traditional instruments of the area. If you come in July, you are likely to come across horon circles on the seafront.

Season and practical notes

The mild climate described by the municipality makes Ortamahalle a place to visit in every season, but the gardens are at their liveliest in spring and early summer. Morning light falls on the east facing fronts; choose the early hours for photographs. After rain the stone stairs become slippery, so come down carefully.

  • The houses of Ortamahalle are mostly private property; look from outside.
  • Check current information on access to Lake Sera and on the nature park arrangements with official sources.
  • Confirm festival dates each year before you go.

Sources

Location - The Ortamahalle Houses of Akçaabat and Lake Sera

Trip Info
CityAkçaabat, Trabzon
TypeCultural
DateOctober 19, 2026
SourceRadar Editör
Radar TürkiyeAuthorRadar TürkiyeVisit SourceGet Directions