In light of these finds, we can say that the earliest known settlement was a trading colony of Miletus that came into existence around 670 BC. The name of the city is first mentioned as “Trapezus” in the book of Xenophon entitled Anabasis.

An important Silk Road connection between Europe and Asia, Trabzon has hosted many civilisations throughout its history. The Cimmerians, Medes, Persians and Macedonians were among the earlier rulers of the port city. After the death of Macedonian King Alexander the Great, Mithridates I Ctistes, a descendant of the Persian nobility, founded the Kingdom of Pontus, in 312 BC. The city was part of the Eastern Empire after the split of Rome, controlled by the Byzantine Empire and later the Komnenos Dynasty. The Komnenoi began to rule Trabzon at the dawn of the 13th century, and lasted more than 250 years until 1461, when the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, the Conqueror, conquered the city.

Trabzon has been an inspiration for world-renowned travellers such as Xenophon, Evliya Çelebi, Fallmerayer and Frunze, who visited the city and immortalized it in travel books and manuscripts. Today, the city is also an important centre of commerce and culture, replete with its museums, monasteries, mosques, tombs, caravanserais, bathhouses, covered bazaar, city walls and magnificent examples of civic architecture, markets, a fantastic landscape, and mystical nature.

The people of Trabzon preserve the traditional handcrafts, such as stone-carving and wood-carving, weaving, jewellery making, the art of the coppersmith, knife making, and quilting.

Trabzon’s gold and silver jewellery, its typical horon line dance and the local musical instrument kemençe (Byzantine Lyra) have found a worldwide audience.