Sinop is called The Happy City is a charming little town with a population of 50 000. The Celebrity Constellation is the largest passenger ship that has ever docked there. It was an easy walk into town and we walked to the top of the town to visit the prison fortress which was constructed initially in the 7th century BC when the city was re-founded as a Greek colony from the city of Miletus. It was extended and repaired several times in its history by Persians, Kingdom of Pontus, Romans and Byzantines.
In 1214 the sultan of Seljuk Turks of Rûm divided the fortress in two parts by erecting a wall in north-south direction. The inner fortress of today was formed by adding another wall in the west-east direction. Since then, the inner fortress was used also as shipyard and dungeon. The oldest document that shows the fortress was used as dungeon dates back to 1568.
The prison was considered as a high-security penitentiary with no escape possibility due to its position within a fortress. The top of the walls of the inner fortress served to the patrolling prison guard as walkway. The living conditions at the prison, where it was difficult even to light a match, were very harsh due to the moisture caused by the location of the prison very close to the sea.
In the beginning of the 20th century, a rehabilitation program was set up for the prisoners. The inmates were given the opportunity to learn and practise handicraft such as woodworking and jewellery that enabled them to potter and to earn money from the items they produced and sold.
The prison was abandoned on December 6, 1997 after the inmates were transferred to a newly built prison in Sinop.
The port had lots of restaurants nearby and right along the seaside. The usual fare is kebaps not kebabs, pides, pizza, fish, which is usually sea bass, meatballs, calamari, onion rings, doner sliced from great stacks of meat turning next to the grills and a casserole they cook in clay pots and make a big fuss about slicing off the top of the pot and everybody claps when they do a neat job of it the pots are then thrown away, you see them lying around everywhere.
When you order a meal you are served a large Turkish flat bread and French stick with hummus and garlic dip, that's usually a meal on its own.
I walked a long way along the shore, up and down hills hoping to find a beach but it was just pontoons anchored at the waters edge. The sun was shining and the temperature was about 23 degrees but it was quite windy down by the sea. A good day in Sinop