Trabzon is the main city of Türkiye's eastern Black Sea coast and the base for Sümela Monastery and Uzungöl. In the city itself are the 13th-century Hagia Sophia of Trabzon, the Ministry's Trabzon Museum in the Kostaki Mansion, the small St Anna church, and the Boztepe viewing terrace above the harbour.
Country
Turkey
Type
City
Where it is
41.0055, 39.7301
Understand the place
Not only where to go, but what to eat, what things cost, what visitors get wrong, how accessible Trabzon is, which scams to recognize and what is genuinely worth your time.
Planning your visit
The Turkish State Meteorological Service's long-run statistics for the Trabzon station (1927–2025) describe a mild, wet coast: average highs run from about 11°C in January and February to about 27°C in August, and every month averages between 7.7 and 12.8 rainy days. October is the wettest month on average (113.4 mm). These are coastal city figures; the highlands inland, including Uzungöl at about 1,100–1,150 m, are colder and snowier. The Maçka district governorship names early April to late October as the busiest period at Altındere Valley, where Sümela stands. No official source names a best season for the city.
The complete guide
Start with the parts of Trabzon that matter most to your trip, then move into the practical details.
Experiences & attractions
Attractions, experiences and places actually worth your time.
When to go
When to visit and what the seasons really feel like.
Transport
Public transport, taxis, walking and common pitfalls.
Understand before you arrive
Local expectations, religion and visitor etiquette.
The details that matter
Connectivity, health, photography and useful local details.
Things to do
A 13th-century Byzantine church of the Empire of Trebizond, a museum from 1964 and a mosque again since 2013. It is a different building from Istanbul's Hagia Sophia. The Doğu Karadeniz Kültür Envanteri Projesi states free admission; as a working mosque, visiting follows prayer times. It has its own place page.
Housed in a mansion built between 1898 and 1913 for the banker Kostaki Teophylaktos, where Atatürk stayed in September 1924; a museum since 2001, with archaeological and ethnographic collections. The Ministry's muze.gov.tr lists it as open 08:00–17:00, ticket office closing at 16:30, closed on Mondays; the Ministry's DÖSİMM fee schedule gives €3 for foreign visitors. The Ministry's turkishmuseums.com listing gives different hours and a 200 TL fee for Turkish citizens, so check before you go.
Described by the Ministry as Trabzon's oldest church, rebuilt under Basil I in the 9th century. muze.gov.tr lists it as free, open every day, 08:00–17:00, with the ticket office closing at 16:30.
Ortahisar municipality's Boztepe Volkan Konak terrace above the city has a walking path of about 900 m, glass and wooden terraces and two buffets; the municipality gives its hours as 09:00–23:00. No fee or accessibility information is published.
The Ministry's Kültür Portalı describes the walls on the rock between the Tabakhane and Zağnos valleys, in upper, middle and lower sections (Yukarı Hisar, Orta Hisar, Aşağı Hisar). No visiting information is published.
An early 19th-century summer house at Soğuksu, run by the municipality as an Atatürk museum since 1943; Atatürk visited in 1924, 1930 and 1937. No official hours or fee are published.
Food & drink
The Trabzon provincial culture and tourism directorate's gastronomy page (dated 15 January 2026) puts the Black Sea anchovy (hamsi) at the centre of the local kitchen, with around 40 dishes including fried hamsi and hamsi pilaf, and names five products with geographical indications: Sürmene pide, Akçaabat köfte, Hamsiköy rice pudding, Vakfıkebir bread and Tonya butter. It also lists kuymak, kaygana, nettle soup and cabbage dishes, and calls tea synonymous with Trabzon.
Safety & tourist traps
The UK Foreign Office's Turkey advice (updated 21 September 2026) has nothing specific to Trabzon or the Black Sea; the only area it advises against is within 10 km of the Syrian border. It says terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Turkey, mostly in southeast Turkey, Ankara and Istanbul; that severe rainstorms can cause flooding and landslides that damage roads and bridges; and that road accidents are common, so take care when travelling by road, particularly at night. Check your own government's current advice.
Transport
Trabzon's metropolitan municipality opened a new intercity bus terminal on 22 October 2023, reached by municipal buses, dolmuşes and taxis; its municipal line 204 runs between the terminal and the main square (Meydan) on an undated timetable. The municipality's transport portal is ulasim.trabzon.bel.tr. Fares were not found.
What visitors get wrong
It is a different building from Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, with its own history, and it is free to enter as a working mosque. Fee figures quoted online for 'Hagia Sophia' often belong to Istanbul.
Traveler experiences
Traveler reviews will appear here after moderation.
Worth the drive
Distances are straight-line, not road distances or travel times.
Mosque · Fatih Mahallesi, Trabzon
A 13th-century Byzantine church-turned-mosque on Trabzon's Black Sea coast road, with surviving frescoes including a Pantocrator Christ dome fresco — not to be confused with the far more famous Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, a different building entirely.
Monastery · Altındere Mahallesi, Trabzon
A Greek Orthodox monastery built into a sheer cliff face about 300 m above the Altındere valley floor, in Trabzon Province, reached by road and then on foot along a forest path and a long staircase. On UNESCO's Tentative List.
Lake · Uzungöl, Trabzon
A lake-and-village resort area in Çaykara district, Trabzon Province, at about 1,100–1,150 m elevation — a lakeside boardwalk, forested mountainsides, trout restaurants and wood-chalet hotels, reached by a mountain road that real winter snow can disrupt.
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