Turkey: Sabranbolu
Safranbolu is largely unknown to tourist crowds, it’s away from the hordes at the coasts or Cappadocia and it’s absolutely fantastic! Once upon a time during the Ottoman Empire heydays , this was a major stop on the Asia to Europe trade route and the town grew with wealthy merchant houses and mansions. The e tire old town is almost perfectly preserved with magnificent architecture and cobblestone streets and old mosques – totally spectacular! It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 1008 registered historical artifacts. The historic old town, all walkable in a couple house has 25 historic mosques (like 1661 Mehmet Pasa Mosque), 5 tombs, 8 historical fountains, 5 historic Turkish baths aka hamams, 3 caravaserais (like the fortress-like Cinci Hani), 1 historical clock tower, 1 sundial, and hundreds of houses and mansions. Many of the old houses are now gorgeously restored boutique hotels, in fact, we stayed in one of them with a stunning panoramic view of the entire old town. Finally, the name Safranbolu comes from “saffron” and Greek “polis” meaning town – the town of Saffron – as this was the number one center of saffron production in The Ottoman Empire and it still is, you can see saffron for sale all around town, including the whole beautiful flowers and evening a monument to saffron on the main square.
