Boztepe Hill

About this place

Long before anyone climbed Boztepe for the view, it was a place of worship. The Byzantines knew this hill as Minthrion, a name thought to come from a sanctuary of the Persian god Mithras that stood on the summit in antiquity; a church later took its place, and the last church built there, in the nineteenth century, was in turn converted into a small mosque. Almost nobody climbs Boztepe for that story today. They climb for the view: the harbour, the bay, the coast unrolling east and west, and every rooftop in the city laid out beneath your feet. The hill sits only three kilometres or so from Meydan square, yet it feels like a different climate. The municipality has built a broad observation terrace on the lip of the slope, named after the Trabzon-born singer Volkan Konak, and the hillside below it is stitched with tea gardens and cafés that locals use far more than tourists do, especially at dusk. Tea arrives in tulip glasses, usually with something baked from the region, and the prices are local rather than touristic. Buy the tea and stay as long as you like: there is no ticket, no fence and no closing time. The one condition is the sky. Trabzon is among the wettest cities in Turkey and fog wraps the hill without warning, so do not schedule the visit; look at the horizon from Meydan and, if it is clear, go at once. The best hour is just before sunset, when the waterfront lights come on while you can still trace the coastline. Winter, when snow sits on the mountains behind you and the air is scrubbed clean, can deliver the sharpest view of the year, but dress for a biting wind on the edge. Families have an easy time of it. A car or taxi gets you up in minutes, a dolmuş marked Boztepe runs from around Meydan, and the terrace and cafés are level enough for a pushchair. For a dose of history, the recently restored Kızlar Monastery sits on the lower slope and the Ahi Evren Dede mosque marks the summit. Be honest with your itinerary, though: Boztepe needs an hour or two, not an afternoon, and it is no substitute for Uzungöl or Sumela. It is, however, the perfect overture to both on your first evening in the city.