Bayburt Castle: Guardian of the Trabzon Road

A castle on a steep rocky hill above Bayburt and the Çoruh River, fortified under Justinian I and rebuilt by the Seljuks, guarding the old Trabzon–Iran route.

Long walls snake along the ridge above the town, the Çoruh River curling at their foot. From the top the whole valley spreads out, ringed by bare hills.

History

Bayburt Castle stands on a steep, peninsula-like rocky hill north of Bayburt, on the upper Çoruh River, at about 1,150 m. Its builder is unknown, but it was fortified under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (527–565). The Great Seljuks took it in 1054–1055, when Bayburt was one of the first areas of Anatolia settled by the Turks. Inscriptions show it was largely rebuilt under the Seljuk sultan Tughril II as a stronghold against the Empire of Trebizond. The Ottomans took it in 1514, and Suleiman the Magnificent restored it in 1541 during his Iran campaign.

Guarding the road

For centuries the castle protected Bayburt and the Trabzon–Iran transit route. A record from 1520 lists 397 guards and a large store of cannons, rifles and war materials.