Evliya Çelebi (Seyahatnâmesi, 2:252a) describes Trabzon’s Boztepe Mountains as home to thirty-one thousand vineyards and gardens. Among the fruits grown there were varieties of grapes, cherry, pear, apple, fig, different kinds of lemons, red oranges, pomegranates, and seven types of olives. He also tells of a fruit called the Trabzon date, which is dried in ovens and sent to the provinces. Boxwood trees grew on the mountains, and cypresses and Anatolian nut trees in the orchards.

Many kinds of flowers grew there, but one red carnation with an especially sweet smell, which suffuses one’s mind, is described as having no equal in the whole world. Each is worth five to six dirhem each, without their stems.

Source: Travel Account, 17th century

-Nurhan Atasoy, Seyit Ali Kahraman

Resources:

Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnâmesi: Topkapı Sarayı Bağdat 304 Yazmasının transkripsiyonu (Open in Zotero)

Originally published at: Atasoy, Nurhan, and Seyit Ali Kahraman “Trabzon Boztepe Gardens” Middle East Gardens Traditions. Dumbarton Oaks, December 1, 2014. https://www.doaks.org/resources/middle-east-garden-traditions/catalogue/C98. Archived at: https://perma.cc/5UDZ-R9BM.