Bolu, East Marmara Region, Türkiye

🇹🇷 Bolu is a city in Turkey, and administrative centre of the Bolu Province. It was the site of Ancient Claudiopolis and has also been called Eskihisar Eskihisar ("old fortress") (and as such has several Turkish namesakes).

Bolu is on the old highway from Istanbul to Ankara, which climbs over Mount Bolu, while the new motorway passes through Mount Bolu Tunnel below the town. It is situated at 742 m (2,434 ft) above sea level on the southern slopes of a bare hill.

History Bolu was part of one of the Hittite kingdoms around 2000 BC and later 500 BC became one of the leading cities of the Greek Kingdom of Bithynia (279 BC - 79 BC). Bebryces, Mariandynes, Koukones, Thyns and Paphlagons are native people of the area in antique era. Strabo (XII, 4, 7) mentions a Hellenistic town, Bithynium (Greek: Βιθύνιον), celebrated for its pastures and cheese, which according to Pausanias (VIII, 9) was founded by Arcadians from Mantinea.

In the Ancient Roman era, as is shown by its coins, the town was commonly called Claudiopolis after Emperor Claudius. It was the birthplace of Antinous, the posthumously deified lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was very generous to the city, and his name was later added to that of Claudius on the coins of the city. Emperor Theodosius II (408-50) made it the capital of a new province, formed out of Bithynia and Paphlagonia, and called by him Honorias in honour of his younger son and successor Honorius.

The city was known under Byzantine rule as Hadrianopolis (like many others; not to be confused with Hadrianopolis in Honoriade, also Constantina, Constantia, now Viranşehir). After the Battle of Manzikert in which the Byzantines suffered a defeat at the hands of the Seljuks, Turkmens migrating west settled the city in the 11th century and it was referred to as Boli, Turkicized short for the Greek Polis 'city'. It was recaptured by Byzantines in 1097 but was conquered by the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum in 1197.

The Ottoman era In 1325, the town was conquered by the Ottoman Empire under Orhan, becoming known under the present Turkish name - sometimes called Bolou or Boli. It was also ruled by Candaroğlu between 1402 and 1423. It became the chief town of a sanjak in the vilayet (province) of Kastamonu and had a population of 10,000 inhabitants. Bolu was an Ottoman eyalet (state) until the Charter of States (Vilayetler Nizannamesi) of 1864, and was within the area stretching from Beykoz kazasi of İzmid sanjak to Boyabat kazasi of Sinop sanjak. In the late 19th and early 20th century, following the 1864 Vilayetler Nizannamesi, Bolu was part of the Kastamonu Vilayet of the Empire.

Places of interest The countryside around Bolu offers excellent walking and other outdoor pursuits. There are hotels in the town. Sights near the town include: • The 14th-century grand mosque, Ulu Jamii. • Bolu Museum holding artifacts from Hittite, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods. • The hot springs, Kaplıcalar. • Lake Abant and village of Gölköy, near the university campus. • The famous crater lake called Gölcük. • Hayreddin-i Tokadi, the local saint whose shrine is visited by folk in an annual festival.

Culture: Architecture and sights Bolu is home to examples of Ottoman architecture. The Grand Mosque dates to 1899, but was originally built by Bayezid I and is home to decorations that resemble embroideries. The Kadı Mosque is perhaps the best example of classical Ottoman architecture in the city, having been built in 1499 and having its entrance embroidered with ornate kündekari works. Other Ottoman mosques in the city include the İmaret Mosque, built in the 16th century, Saraçhane Mosque, built in 1750, Ilıca Mosque, built in 1510–11, Karaköy Cuma Mosque, built in 1562-63 and Tabaklar Mosque, built in 1897.

The remains of the ancient city of Bithynium have been found in four hills in the city centre, Kargatepe, Hisartepe, Hıdırlıktepe and the Uğurlunaip Hill. In Hıdırlıktepe, a tomb and the remains of a theatre have been uncovered. In Hisartepe, a temple believed to have been built by the Roman emperor Hadrian for his lover Antinous has been excavated. In 1911, it was noted that "in and around [Bolu] are numerous marbles with Greek inscriptions, chiefly sepulchral, and architectural fragments".

Bolu Museum was established in 1975 to display and protect artifacts found in the Bolu area. It functions as both an archaeological and an ethnographic museum and is home to 3286 archaeological and 1677 ethnographic artifacts, as well as 12,095 historical coins. The archaeological artifacts chronicle the history of the area from Neolithic to Byzantine eras.