Kastamonu, Black Sea Region, Türkiye

🇹🇷 Kastamonu, formerly Kastamone (Κασταμονή), is a city in northern Turkey. It is the seat of Kastamonu Province and Kastamonu District. The city lies at an elevation of 904 m (2,966 ft). It is located in the southern part of the province.

History The city is believed to have been founded in the 18th century BC. The town was known as Timonion (Τιμόνιον in Greek) during the Roman period.

The change of name of the town dates to the tenth century AD. Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, a prominent general and the father of the Byzantine emperor Isaac I Komnenos, was given lands around the city by Emperor Basil II and built a fortress there named Kastra Komnenon (Κάστρα Κομνηνῶν). Manuel came to the notice of Basil II because of his defence, in 978, of Nicaea against the rebel Bardas Skleros. The name Kastra Komnenon was shortened to Kastamone, and later Turkified to Kastamoni and Kastamonu.

Ibn Battuta visited the city, noting it as "one of the largest and finest cities, where commodities are abundant and prices low". He stayed here forty days.

The famous Sufi saint of the city is Sheikh Shaban Veli (Şaban-ı Veli in Turkish, d. 976 AH/1569 AD).

The Dress Code Revolution of Mustafa Kemal Pasha started on August 23, 1925, at Kastamonu. Atatürk made his historical speech concerning the "Hat and Dress Revolution" during his visit to Kastamonu in 1925 in the Republican People's Party building. The building is now used as the Archeological Museum of Kastamonu. The possessions used by Mustafa Kamal in his Kastamonu visit are also exhibited in the museum.

Cuisine Typical country fare in Kastamonu includes a quick rose petal jam made with sugared water, citric acid and gül mayası - the latter is a preparation of culinary-grade rose petals with sugar and citric acid that preserves them and brings out their flavor and fragrance. Homemade hot sauce is made by simmering grated tomato, garlic, Turkish red pepper, hot peppers, sunflower oil, salt and pepper on the stove. Sweet katmer is made by preparing a simple unleavened dough of flour, salt and water that is smeared with a tahini and sunflower oil mixture as it is folded.

Breakfast might include farm made cheese, olives, pekmez, fried potatoes, rose jam homemade hot sauce, eggs served hot in the pan (called sahanda yumurta), folded unleavened bread called katmer, fresh farm milk and black tea.

A speciality of Taşköprü, Kastamonu is freshly slaughtered whole lamb slow-cooked over the glowing embers of wood in a sealed, airtight "well" — this regional specialty is called kuyu kebabı in Turkish. A little water added to a tray ensures that steam keeps the meat moist throughout the cooking process.

Produces around 200 tons of pastırma each year, çemen is made using garlic that is locally produced by the farming villages of Taşköprü.

Economic history In the early 20th century, nickel was mined in the area around Kastamonu.

Economy According to the 2000 census, 77.5% of the labor force is occupied in agriculture. This ratio is higher than the country average. The second largest sector is public and private services (8.9%).

Almost all of the arable land has permanent crops. The agricultural products make up about of 0.01% of the total in Turkey. A large portion of the agricultural produce consists of cereals. Thanks to its widespread forest areas (a total of 57% of the surface area), forestry is also an important industry. Industries largely consist of manufacturing of forestry, agriculture and mining products.

Underground resources include copper, mercury, iron ore, chromium, manganese, asbestos, bauxite, graphite, phosphate, kaolinite, clay, limestone, quartz, marble, magnesite, fire clay, coal and nickel. There are also some natural thermal and mineral water springs, of which a few are suitable for economic investments.

Kastamonu shares about 0.4% of the GDP, the composition of the GDP is as follows (1998 est.): • Agriculture: 32.8% • Communication and transport: 20% • Services: 16.8% • Industry: 9.5%

Transportation is possible only through paved and unpaved highways; a railroad that will connect Çankırı, Kastamonu and İnebolu is under construction. Although the province has a 135 km long coastline to Black Sea, only İnebolu has a small port and transportation by the sea is almost non-existent.

There are around 112,000 telephone main lines in use, about 200,000 cellphone subscribers and 15,000 Internet users in the province.

Education Kastamonu is home to Kastamonu University, which was established in 2006 by incorporating existing colleges, schools, and institutes that were previously under Ankara University and Gazi University. Notable high schools in Kastamonu are: Abdurrahman Paşa Lisesi, also known as Kastamonu Lisesi, the first modern high school that was established in Anatolia in late Ottoman Empire. Kastamonu Mustafa Kaya Lisesi, an Anatolian high school, one of the most successful high schools in Turkey outside Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

Geography The town consists of 20 quarters: Kuzeykent, Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Yavuz Selim, Budamış, Akmescit, Aktekke, Atabeygazi, Beyçelebi, Cebrail, Hepkebirler, Hisarardı, Honsalar, Inönü, Isfendiyar, Ismailbey, Kırkçeşme, Saraçlar, Topçuoğlu, Esentepe and Candaroğulları.

Transport The main bus station has bus links to most major Turkish cities. Kastamonu Airport is active. Kastamonu is also the main railroad endpoint for the West Black Sea region.