Sinop Fortress

Yes, you can believe your eyes: that house is really built inside the fortress walls. Later when I got inside of the walls through that small door people are coming out in the picture, I saw that the entire house is built on the old walls, and the builder wanted to have a better view of the sea so decided to cut the outer walls also to paste the front of the house in it.

Here comes the confusing part of the story: The more Western part of me, the part that is more aligned with the values of the intellectual, "civilized" and modern world, is absolutely horrified to see this sight.  How on Earth is it possible that someone dares to damage such a precious piece of history? I am talking about the shock here, but not about the part of me that judges it. Judging comes later, but for me the more interesting part is the initial shock of not being able to believe what I see. 

Not understanding how this can exist. This reminds me of a small story from my past: way back when I was living in Istanbul (and had not seen much of the Western world outside of Turkey), I had a small operation in a government hospital. An American friend came to visit and she was absolutely horrified to see some cigarette disposals on the floor. She was a highly successful scientist, but she could not understand how those cigarette disposals can be on a hospital floor. Back then, for me and for my other Turkish friends there was nothing abnormal about it: this is how things were in Turkey and we didn't even see it, let alone reacting against or wanting to change it. Growing up in Turkey taught us hopelessness for a vision of change. And now, here I find myself in the same situation where I can't understand how a Turk can cut a part of a wall that is at least 2,000 years old? Obviously, during the past 8 years I've lived in US, I have grown a foreign consciousness/brain that does not recognize the patterns of Turkey.

Another part of me, the Turk, has no problem with the fact that someone decided to damage a fortress that was first built by Hittites in 18-16th century BC. This Turkish side of me would never put herself in the same group with the people who has done this, regardless of having ever lived in US. Even before I left Turkey, I was one of the growing number of people who were the "inner exiles" of Turkey: the ones who didn't belong to, can't communicate to, don't think, feel or look alike the masses in Turkey. Still though, even if I don't feel there's much common in between me and the guy who built that house, I can understand it. Can't justify it because most things in Turkey can not be justified. It's not really defined here and that Turkish part of me understands this. She doesn't approve it, nor she likes it, but she accepts it as it is. She even enjoys seeing such an extreme ignorance because this is one of the things that defines Turkish identity. "Only in Turkey" we say and we mean much different than "Only in America." 

Obviously there is beauty in the way we current incarnates "embraced" the old and "mingled" with it. There is some magic, some beauty and awesomeness in the fact that, instead of emptying out the entire fortress and turning it into an empty museum, we decided to be the museum and built our current city in and on it. 

In this contemporary Sinop Museum nobody knows about, the precious old walls are drowning in the Black Sea, but so what, in any museum in Turkey some of the precious pieces are getting damaged in some way. In this live Sinop Museum, the fortress walls are being used as restaurant walls, cafe walls, home bases and parking lots. Not only that, but the inner castle was used as the most famous prison of Turkey. 

I'm leaving this foreign/Turkish dilemma in my psyche saying that the emergence of the ignorant "civil" who can't understand this country is new. The stark "emptiness" of this intelligence is highly contrasted with the Turkish self who sees the beauty and humor in decay and ugly. This last sentence, I will claim, also defines Turkish identity. 

Following the unending fortress walls I came to a beach where I finally put my feet into the Black Sea. The water was cool but crystal clear despite the waves, the view of the walls was gorgeous, there were dolphins playing not too far from the shore and I found new kinds of sea shells on the beach. During the short time I walked in the water, the Black Sea shot me quickly and unexpectedly and my skirt got all wet. This must be what they mean about this sea: wild and unruly. There was a warning sign at the beach that says even if you know how to swim you may drown here because of the strong currents.

Now following this narrow steps I'm going up to one of the main streets of Sinop. I must be right on the neck of the long peninsula because as soon I get to the street I can see the Black Sea right across on the other side. Right there, the famous Sinop Prison welcomes me :) 

Sinope: The Past

A little history is good for the soul: Sinop was long used as a Hittite (18th-16th century BC) port which appears in Hittite sources as "Sinuwa". The city was re-founded as a Greek colony in the 7th century BC. Sinope then was captured by Pontus Kingdom in 183 BC, by Romans in 70 BC and by the Seljuk Turks in 1214. After 1261, Sinop became home to two successive independent emirates following the fall of the Seljuks: the Pervâne and the Jandarids. It was captured by the Ottomans in 1458.

Sinop peninsula

In November 1853, at the start of the Crimean War, in the Battle of Sinop, the Russians, under the command of Admiral Nakhimov, destroyed an Ottoman frigate squadron in Sinop, leading Britain and France to declare war on Russia.
In elementary school we were asked to memorize the Turkey map so we could draw it from memory. Of course we couldn't get all of the details of those shores right, but Sinop peninsula was one of my saviors: when I drew that one right, my whole map somehow looked right :)

Sinope

In Greek Mythology Sinope was one of the daughters of Asopus, the river god. There are two myths about Sinope. In one, Sinope was seized by the god Apollo and carried over to the place where later stood the city honouring her name. She bore to Apollo a son named Syrus, supposedly afterwards king of the Syrians. The other myth relate that Sinope was abducted to the site by Zeus, who, in his passion, swore to fulfil her dearest wish. Sinope declared she wished to remain a virgin. Sinope later tricked Apollo and the river Halys in the same fashion and remained a virgin all her life.

Diogenes of Sinope was a Greek philosopher and was born in Sinope in 412 or 404 BC and died at Corinth in 323 BC. He was a controversial figure. After being exiled from his native city for defacing the currency, he moved to Athens to debunk cultural conventions. He believed that virtue was better revealed in action than in theory. He used his lifestyle and behaviour to criticise the social values and institutions of what he saw as a corrupt society. He begged for a living and slept in a tub in the marketplace. He became notorious for his philosophical stunts such as carrying a lamp in the daytime, claiming to be looking for an honest man. He publicly mocked Alexander and lived. He embarrassed Plato, disputed his interpretation of Socrates and sabotaged his lectures. After being captured by pirates and sold into slavery, Diogenes eventually settled in Corinth. There he passed his philosophy of Cynicism to be fashioned it into the school of Stoicism, one of the most enduring schools of Greek philosophy. 

Beginning Sinop

My breakfast view this morning

I woke up late this morning and had breakfast in one of the restaurants right by the sea. I was very happy with my tea because it was really hot unlike the usually half warm half hot tea that's served everywhere. We Turks have unbelievable amounts of black tea every day. At home I have about 8-10 at breakfast only but today I only had 4.

I sat on the other plastic purple chair. This city likes purple. The walls of my hotel room also are purple. One can find these fish-and-alcohol restaurants in any city by the sea. The most colorful character of the area was this dog who barked and played with the locals carrying a small (and empty) raki (Turkish ouzo) bottle in his mouth.

Visiting my second "new" city I now know that I also have the "foreign" phobia to some extent: When I arrived at Sinop yesterday, I didn't like it one bit. I felt uncomfortable and regretted I ever came here. I was angry at myself that I followed my impulse too quickly to come here: I thought the only thing in Sinop worth seeing was the museum and that was closed all Monday and half day Tuesday, so coming here on Sunday night I thought I wasted all my Monday. I planned and even bought tickets to go to Bafra to go see the newly uncovered historic site Ikiztepe, but that was a 2 hour ride East on the same terrible road I rode yesterday. I was so very angry at myself for riding 3 hours West to come to Sinop only to realize that I need to ride 2 hours back and forth East on the same road. I was way too lazy and sleepy this morning to catch the early bus, so I decided I'll stay in my room all day to start this blog. 

After breakfast I said to myself I will take a very short walk just to see where this shore line is going and then will go back to my room quickly to start writing my blog. After a series of sea side cafes that again one can find in any city by the sea, I found myself on this beautiful scene with the fishing boats and the Black Sea on my left and the seemingly unending Sinop Fortress on my right.

When I arrived yesterday I was sent to find a hotel in inner "kale" and all I saw was one small (and seemingly independent) old wall. I didn't get what the big deal was about this Sinop Kale. "Kale" means both "castle" and "fortress" in Turkish and I thought Sinop had one small castle until my awe grew with each step I took. It was a fortress, after all, and it simply didn't end. It was on the right, then inside the city, then under the city, under the sea, on the other side... basically the entire modern Sinop is founded on and in this fortress and completely mingled with it. I will post some more awesome, sad, confusing and beautiful images of that mingling.

Shimmering beauty Black Sea. But don't be fooled. Black Sea is known as a unruly waters. You need to know it before daring to go on or in it.

This red fishing boat is specific to this region and called a "taka". I watched it leave and it has such a charisma when it moves.

Waiting to be re-painted...