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In UNESCO’s world heritage list as an international cultural area – Safranbolu, with its little-changed cobbled pavements and authentic marketplace is a virtual open-air museum. A perfect example of what an Ottoman town must have looked like several centuries ago, it is the quintessential spot to get reacquainted with Ottoman history and experience a bit of the Ottoman past in Turkey. |
| In fact, Safranbolu, named as such for its saffron fields, is probably the only town in Turkey that still has unique, Ottoman houses in excellent condition with their original design intact. Safranbolu’s history dates back to at least 3,000 B.C. and during the Ottoman period was at its peak economic and cultural level. In the 17th century, Safranbolu was an important lodging place for traders, making it one of the most prosperous towns in the region.
The sloping terrain at Safranbolu, which is situated in a deep canyon carved out by three rivers, produced interesting architectural solutions. The stone-built ground floors of Safranbolu houses, most of which are two- or three-storey mansions, generally follow the natural gradient of the street. The upper stories meanwhile, supported by buttresses, may project over the street. Although the houses are built on small, oddly shaped lots, thanks to this building technique the upper level rooms are nevertheless rectangular and spacious.
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| Another aspect of the technique is that the house’s axis can be rotated slightly on the upper stories according to need or exposure to the sun! The houses along the narrow streets of the marketplace thus rise twisting and turning like screw shells over the narrow and sloping plots of land to which they cling. |
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The interiors of the houses are as elegant as their exteriors. The low-ceilinged middle stories used in winter are cozy and warm like a womb while the upper floors, used in summer, are airy with high ceilings. The master bedroom, the most beautiful room with the best view, is usually situated on the topmost floor. This room, decorated with woodwork and stenciling, is where the master craftsmen exhibited all their skill. |
| In typical Safranbolu houses, each room was furnished in such a way as to meet all the needs of the nuclear family. It is not for nothing that Safranbolu residents called each one of these rooms a ‘house’ since they could be a sitting room in the daytime thanks to divans running around the wall, simultaneously a kitchen thanks to the hearth, a bedroom thanks to the floor mattresses taken out of the cupboard at night, and a bathroom thanks to the washstand concealed in the cupboard! Because they were designed as independent units, each of the rooms was assigned a name such as ‘storage house’, ‘guest house’ or ‘dining house’. |
| The town is so full of interesting sites that it’s hard to decide where to begin. A good start would be with the castle on Hildirlik Hill with a quaint scenic view. Not to be missed are Cinci Inn and Hamam (17th century Turkish bath), Izzet Mehmet Pasa Mosque and Library (18th century), Koprulu Mosque (17th century), Dagdelen Mosque (18th century) and Kaçak Mosque (19th century). |
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Also worth seeing are the more than 600 Ottoman fountains that dot the town, Incekaya Aqueduct, The Tennaries Clock Tower and the old City Hall.
You can be certain that in Safranbolu you will never run out of things to see. For those who prefer to combine sightseeing with trekking, the environs of Safranbolu are a display of wild pastures (yaylas), canyons, caverns, rock tombs and tumulus. Two spots of outstanding beauty include Ahmet Usta and Uluyayla where the magnificence of the forest seems to stretch toward the sky. |
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