09.30 / 18.00
OLD TOWN / NOMAD VILLAGE / BULAK CAVE / INCEKAYA AQUADUCT / CRYSTAL TERRACE
We pick you up from your hotel between 09:00-09:30 in the morning and start our tour around 09:40. Tour content: Old Town, Historical Clock Tower, Governor's Office Building, Historical Prison, Governer's House, Crystal Terrace, Mencilis (Bulak) Cave, Bulak Canyon, Nomad Village.
Safranbolu, which was included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 1994 and then in the Citta Slow cities in 2024 and registered its place in world tourism, is one of the rare cities that has Ottoman Architecture features and has been able to preserve so many historical structures until today. There are around 2000 Ottoman Style Houses in Safranbolu that have survived from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, 800 of which are registered and under legal protection.
Safranbolu, which was a district of Kastamonu during the Ottoman period and until Karabük became a province in 1995, has a close connection between the city and Istanbul since the center of Kastamonu was Üsküdar during that period. Yürük village has long been an important center close to Safranbolu with its large houses and the labor it provided to Istanbul, especially bakery and pastry making.
Safranbolu and its surroundings have been inhabited and settled since the Paleolithic Age and are an important region. There are three large mounds around Eflani. Homer mentions this region as Paphlagonia in his work Historika. After the Persian and Hellenistic periods, it became a more densely populated region during the Roman period. The 24 mounds in the Safranbolu-Eflani region, various rock tombs, reliefs and a Roman temple in the Sipahiler village south of Safranbolu, the Soğanlı Valley and surrounding rock tombs are among the concrete evidence of these periods. There is no concrete work or structure from the Roman period in the city of Safranbolu; there is no reference to its name from these periods. While historian Leonard suggests that Safranbolu could be ancient Germia, according to Ainsworth, since the city was formerly called Zafaran Boli, he focuses on the possibility that it could be Flaviopolis, which means saffron city, with the same meaning. Osman Turan writes that the city was called Dadybra before it was captured by the Turks.
After the Turks came to Anatolia, the history of Safranbolu developed in relation to Kastamonu. This region was first captured by the Turks during the Danışmentliler period in the 12th century. It was later recaptured by the Eastern Romans, but the Çobanoğulları settled here in the early 13th century. The Çobanoğulları were initially loyal to the Seljuks, then to the Ilkhanids. The Çandaroğulları bey of the Kayı tribe, established in Eflani towards the end of the 13th century, was also loyal first to the Seljuks and then to the Ilkhanids; he remained independent for a short time in the early 15th century and remained in power until 1461, then loyal to the Ottomans. The name of the city at that time is thought to have been Zalifre or Zalifra. The Old Mosque, Süleyman Paşa Madrasah and Eski Hamam (Old Baths) in Safranbolu date from the Candaroğulları period. During all these periods and later during the Ottoman period, Kastamonu was always the regional center. Starting from the Çandaroğulları period, Safranbolu, which was under Ottoman rule for a long time, was called Taraklı Borlu. The names Zağfiran Borlu and later Zağfiranbolu have been used since the beginning of the 18th century
When we look at the historical structures, we come across names such as Cinci Hoca, Köprülü Mehmet Pasha, İzzet Mehmet Pasha among the important figures who left their mark on Safranbolu.
* Lunch
* English, Japanes, Russian Speaking Guide
* Bottle Of Water
* Hotel pick up/Drop Off
