Sinop is Turkey’s most northerly city and has a history stretching back to at least the 7th century BCE, when it was colonised by Miletus. It was the birthplace of Diogenes the Cynic (c. 412 BCE) and the capital of the Kingdom of Pontus. The extraordinarily well-preserved city walls date from this period and later Byzantine and Ottoman rebuildings.
The city is unusually attractive — free of the heavy industry that marks other Black Sea cities, it has a charming old harbour district, clean beaches and access to one of Turkey’s most dramatic natural formations: the Hamsilos fjord.
- Region
- Black Sea / Central Northern Turkey
- Position
- Turkey's northernmost city
- Ancient name
- Sinope (Pontic capital)
- Known for
- Ancient walls, prison museum, Hamsilos fjord
Sinop Fortress
Sinop Kalesi — the ancient city walls — run almost completely around the peninsula, stretching 2.5 km with 23 towers. The walls were originally built in Hellenistic times, reinforced by the Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans. The western section is particularly well-preserved; walk along the top for views over both the harbour and the open Black Sea.
Sinop Prison Museum
The Sinop Kapalı Cezaevi (Sinop Closed Prison) operated from 1887 to 1997 and was notorious as one of the harshest prisons in Ottoman and Republican Turkey. It is now an extraordinary museum, built within the Byzantine walls of the ancient acropolis. The cells, solitary confinement blocks and gallows area are preserved — a haunting, essential visit.
Hamsilos Nature Park fjord
Hamsilos, 8 km west of Sinop, is a remarkable natural fjord — a narrow, sheltered inlet that cuts 3 km into the forested Black Sea hills. The Hamsilos Nature Park surrounds it with hiking trails, wildlife and a silence quite unlike anywhere else on the Turkish coast. The inlet can be explored by kayak or small boat.
Akliman Beach and coastline
Akliman, 10 km southwest of Sinop, is a sheltered bay with a sandy beach and calm, clear Black Sea water — one of the finest swimming spots on the Anatolian Black Sea coast. The beaches along the Sinop peninsula itself (Kadıköy, Karakum) are also excellent, with the unusual quality of being sandy on a coast that is mostly rocky.
Birthplace of Diogenes
Sinop was the birthplace of Diogenes of Sinope(c. 412–323 BCE), the philosopher who lived in a barrel, rejected social conventions and famously told Alexander the Great to get out of his sunlight. A statue of the philosopher stands in the old town; the museum covers his life and Sinop’s ancient history.
Sinop in pictures
Frequently asked questions
Sinop
3Fly from Istanbul to Sinop Airport (1.5 hrs) — Turkish Airlines operates this route. Alternatively, take a bus from Samsun (2.5 hrs) or Ankara (5 hrs). Sinop has no train station.
Two days is comfortable — the city walls, prison museum and old town on day one; Hamsilos fjord and Akliman beach on day two. The city is small and walkable.
Sinop is famous for its ancient Greek and Byzantine city walls (among the best-preserved in Turkey), its notorious prison (now a museum), the dramatic Hamsilos fjord and as the birthplace of the philosopher Diogenes the Cynic.