Görele
The district is mainly mountainous and watered by streams and rivers running into the Black Sea, the highest peaks are Mount Sis and Haç (Haş). Up to 600m the hillsides are covered with hazelnuts, along with alder, poplars and other deciduous trees. The agriculture of the district is mainly hazelnuts along with some tea planting, beekeeping, and gardening for domestic consumption, while the higher elevations are forest and pasture.
Recently trout farming has begun in the mountain waterways and more importantly the attractive high pasture lands have begun to attract visitors on trekking holidays. Traditionally in this part of the world people would move their sheep and cattle to the high pastures (yayla) for summer grazing and today this has become something of an event with summer folklore festivals in places like Sis Dağı attracting visitors from all over Turkey, who come to hear the Kemençe and watch people dance the Horon. The sale of local costumes and craftwork such as wooden toys and woven goods bring extra income to the district.
The climate is typical of the Black Sea region; it rains in every season and in the high mountains it snows in winter. The mountain hinterland is hard to access, with many dirt roads and the villages are continuously shrinking as the villagers migrate to Turkey's larger cities in search of work.
Görele itself is a large town of 27,000 people on the Black Sea coast. The Black Sea coast highway from Giresun to Trabzon runs through here and Görele is about halfway between the two cities, 70 km from each. There is no real port at Görele so goods and people all come though this coast road, but there is a small fishing fleet. The main industry is hazelnut processing, and in August the whole area is busy with people harvesting hazelnuts and bringing them into town.
Görele has its own kemençe style and tradition. Famous Görelean kemençe players include Halil Ağa and Picoğlu Osman.
Map - Görele
Map
Country - Turkey
 |
|
| Flag of Turkey | |
One of the world's earliest permanently settled regions, present-day Turkey was home to important Neolithic sites like Göbekli Tepe, and was inhabited by ancient civilisations including the Hattians, Hittites, Anatolian peoples, Mycenaean Greeks, Persians and others. Following the conquests of Alexander the Great which started the Hellenistic period, most of the ancient regions in modern Turkey were culturally Hellenised, which continued during the Byzantine era. The Seljuk Turks began migrating in the 11th century, and the Sultanate of Rum ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into small Turkish principalities. Beginning in the late 13th century, the Ottomans united the principalities and conquered the Balkans, and the Turkification of Anatolia increased during the Ottoman period. After Mehmed II conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, Ottoman expansion continued under Selim I. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire became a global power. From the late 18th century onwards, the empire's power declined with a gradual loss of territories. Mahmud II started a period of modernisation in the early 19th century. The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 restricted the authority of the Sultan and restored the Ottoman Parliament after a 30-year suspension, ushering the empire into a multi-party period. The 1913 coup d'état put the country under the control of the Three Pashas, who facilitated the Empire's entry into World War I as part of the Central Powers in 1914. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Greek and Assyrian subjects. After its defeat in the war, the Ottoman Empire was partitioned.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| TRY | Turkish lira | ₺ | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| AV | Avar language |
| AZ | Azerbaijani language |
| KU | Kurdish language |
| TR | Turkish language |