Tokat


Tokat is the capital city of Tokat Province of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is located at the confluence of the Tokat River with the Yeşilırmak. In the 2018 census, the city of Tokat had a population of 155,000

History

The city was established in the Hittite era. During the time of King Mithradates VI of Pontus, it was one of his many strongholds in Asia Minor.
Known as Evdokia , ecclesiastically it was later incorporated into the western part of the Byzantine Greek Empire of Trebizond.
After the Battle of Manzikert the town, like most of Asia Minor, came under the control of the Seljuk Turks. After the death of Sultan Suleiman ibn Qutulmish in 1086, the Emir Danishmend Gazi took control of the area, operating from his power base in the town of Sivas. It would be many decades before the Seljuks re-took control of that region, in the reign of Kilij Arslan II.
After the Battle of Köse Dağ, Seljuk hold over the region was lost, and local Emirs such as the Eretna took power until the rise of the Ottomans.

Ecclesiastical History

Even under Seljuk Muslim rule, Tokat remained a centre of Pontic Greek culture and the Greek Orthodox church.
Anglican priest and famous Bible translator Henry Martyn died 1812 in Tokat while he was on his way from Shiraz back to England and was buried in the Armenian cemetery.
In 1859 was established as a residential diocese of the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Tokat on territory previously without a proper Ordinary of its Eastern Catholic particular church sui iurus.
The only recorded residential incumbent Eparch of Tokat was Arsenio Avak-Wartan Angiarakian, emeritate as Titular Archbishop of Tarsus.
On 30 May 1892 the diocese was suppressed and its territory reassigned to the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Sebaste.
In 1972 the diocese was nominally restored as Titular bishopric of Tokat, but is vacant after a single incumbent, of the lowest rank, Titular Bishop Vartan Achkarian, Mechitarists , Auxiliary Eparch of the patriarchal province Cilicia of the Armenians , Bishop of Curia of the Armenians, Auxiliary Eparch of Beirut of the Armenians .

Climate

Tokat has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate with considerable maritime and continental influences.

Economy

Historically, copper was mined in the area.

Culture

Education

is one of Turkey's newer tertiary institutions, founded in 1992. It was named after the local hero Gazi Osman Paşa.

Sports

Football is the most popular sport: in the older districts above the city center children often kick balls around in the evenings in the smallest streets. The city's football club is Tokatspor, which plays its games at the Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa Stadium.
Basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming, cable skiing, horse riding, go karting, paintballing, martial arts and many other sports are played. Cycling and jogging are only common along the sea front, where recreational fishing is also popular.

Cuisine

Foods distinctive to Tokat include Tokat kebabı and Zile pekmezi, the latter being served in a wooden pot. Tokat kebabı consists of sliced lamb, aubergines, potatoes, green bell peppers and tomatoes. The slices are laid on their sides in rows in a dish and baked with cloves of garlic. Zile pekmezi is a grape-molasses confection, prepared from a variety of small green grapes, which are pressed and then evaporated to a thick syrup by boiling. Egg-whites are then beaten into the syrup until it forms a pale marshmallow-like paste. It is sold commercially in tubs.

Tourism

The most important landmark is Tokat Castle, an Ottoman citadel with 28 towers on a rocky hill overlooking the town. Vlad the Impaler was imprisoned in one of its dungeons. Other sights include the remains of several Greek Orthodox churches and a cathedral, the Garipler Mosque dating to the 12th century, the Ali Paşa Mosque, the Hatuniye Külliyesi, also 16th century and the Gök Medrese, which was constructed in 1270. It was founded as a school of theology, and was converted into a museum, housing archaeological finds from the area, until that function was transferred in 2012 to another location.
The Latifoglu Konak, a late 18th-century Ottoman residence, is an example of Baroque architecture. The two-story building has been restored and has been converted into a small museum. Much of the furniture in the kitchen, study, visitors' rooms with bath and toilet, bedroom, master's room, and harem is original.
Ballıca Cave is a small cave situated at 6 km southeast of Pazar, Tokat Province.

Notable people

Tokat is twinned with:

Europe
Africa