Samsun
Tourism
Author 1: ÜNLÜ MUCIZE
Author 2: MURZİOĞLU NAZLI
Author: Mucize ÜNLÜ [1]
The Europeans, who visited the Ottoman territory in the 19th century, sought for modern living standards and a sense of comfort in the Ottoman cities. While such services could be offered to customers in the Beyoglu hotels of the capital, the opening of similar establishments took time in Anatolia. However, there were similar kinds of facilities serving as hotels in the rural Ottoman lands, such as inns (hans), konaks and menzils (carriage stations), as was also the case in the Samsun vicinity. For instance, the carriage station (menzil) owner Ali Osman Agha, owner of one out of many carriage stations in the region, had also his premises serving as a hotel in Samsun. There was a kitchen, a private room and bath in his carriage station, like in the modern hotels. It also had a store for commercial goods, while his property was estimated at 10,000 silver Ottoman coins in 1868 [2]. The modern hotels were introduced in the 1880s in Samsun, which, as a port city, had developed especially during the second half of the century. The Tobacco Factory, especially, in 1884 expedited the city’s development, offering also a good guest-house for the tobacco merchants next to the factory [3]. In 1887, there were two hotels in city, named “Concordia” and “Oriental”. In 1890, the “Grand de hotel Stamboul” joined them. We could consider these hotels as the first modern ones. In addition to bed service, restaurant service was also offered, affording a variety of delicious food and music too [4].
In the beginning of the 20th century, there were two hotels in the city, “Concordia” and “Grand de hotel Constantinople”. “Oriental”, which had existed previously, wasn’t among these hotels. In 1902, the hotel “Yanni”, run by Hazzapula, and the hotel “Mantika Palas”, which had been built by Jean Ionnis Mantica with two floors, outer walls with bricks and internal compartments, had been included among the hotels [5].In 1904, “de Smyrne”, which served coffee and restaurant services, was opened by O. Basmacıyan. This business is mentioned among the hotels of the city in 1908. The four hotels of the city in 1908 were “Athina”, run by Madam Gulyanidis, “de Smyrne”, run by Hasan Efendi, “Yanni”, run by Haji Konstantin Yani, and “Grand hotel Mantica”, which was in the city centre, situated next to the beach [6].In 1911, the hotel “Yanni” ceased to operate as a hotel and continued to offer restaurant services only under the name of “Kanaat”. “Smyrne Oteli”, “Grand Otel Mantica” and “Grand Otel Canik” were the three available businesses in the city in that year. In 1912, with the inclusion of “Samsun Palas” and “Canik”, the number of hotels increased to five and to eight in 1914. As we can see from newspaper advertisements, hotels such as “İzmir” on the Gumruk Street and “Karadeniz” beside the Bank of Saloniki, on the beach, opened. The commercial activity of the city and and the increasing travelling through the port have been desicive factors for the enlargement of the sector of services which the modernization brought, as is revealed by the increasing number of hotels [7].
[1] Assoc.Professor Dr., 19 Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
[2] Mehmet Coşkun, Samsun Sheriyya Sicils 1285-1286 H. (1868-1869), M.A. Thesis in Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun 1991, p. 226.
[3] Mehmet Yavuz Erler & Kerim Edinsel, “Samsun’da Tütün Üretimi (1788-1919)” (Tabacco Production in Samsun (1788-1919) , The Journal of International Social Research, Volume.4, Issue. 18, Summer 2011, p.244-245.
[4] Filiz Dığıroğlu, “XIX. Yüzyıl Karadeniz’inde Yeni Bir Ticari Merkez: Samsun”, (Phd Thesis, Marmara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, IV Section, İstanbul 2011). However, according to the Trabzon Vilayet Salnamesi there were 2 hotels and guesthouses available in the town in this period. (Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi, (1904), 22, (ed:Kudret Emiroğlu ), (2009), (Ankara: Trabzon İl ve İlçesi Eğitim, Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı Yayınları), p. 329).
[5] Dığıroğlu, pp. 344-345. In the Trabzon Vilayet Salnamesi recorded that there were 2 hotels and guesthouse in the town on this date. (Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi (1904), 22, ( ed: Kudret Emiroğlu), 2009, (Ankara: Trabzon İl ve İlçesi Eğitim, Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı Yayınları) p. 329.
[6] İbid, Dığıroğlu, p. 345.
[7] İbid, Dığıroğlu, p. 346.
Author: Nazlı MURZİOĞLU [1]
Until the beginning of the 19th century, journeys made by the rich and noble for the purpose of trade or just because of wanderlust can be included in the category of tourism [2]. Journeys made by foreigners through the Ottoman lands had different purposes. Particularly, exploring Asia was one of the most significant aims for them. This curiosity increased during the 16th century. Following their journeys, travellers used to write about their voyages. Many of them have survived until this day. Apart from the travellers who came to the Ottoman lands just for sightseeing, there was another group of travellers, consisting of scientists who were searching medicins and herbs, missionaries, pilgrims and others who sought to learn the language [3].
When viewed within this context, visits made by travellers in the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century in Samsun, can be considered as tourism activities. In the first half of the 19th century, with the opening of the Black sea to transportation for steamship technology, the port cities became popular and numerous ships touched at the port of Samsun. At the same time Samsun started to function as the port for the Diyarbakır, Harput and Sivas provinces. Moreover, passengers from Baghdad who went to İstanbul went through Samsun [4]. During these centuries, numerous travellers visited Samsun. Most of them published travel notes, which enable us to learn more about the geographical, social and economic structure of Samsun at the time. During his travels to the East, carried out between 1805-1806 by the French born diplomat and traveller, M. Amedee Joubert, Samsun had been one of the places he visited and stayed. We get information about his journey from the book “Travels of M. Joubert in Armenia and Persia in 1805-1806”, published by The Museum of Foreign Literature and Science in 1822 [5]. Another traveller, who visited Samsun, was the British born John Macdonald, who travelled around Anatolia between 1813-1814. After his journey, he published his book “Journey Through Asia Minor and Armenia and Koordistan in the years 1813 and 1814” in 1818, sharing his observations. Another British traveller who visited Samsun was the geology expert W. J. Hamilton. In the summer of 1838, he came to the area by the Exxes steamship and travelled through Unye and Alaçam for six days between 16-22 of July. After returning to his country, in 1842, he too published a book, titled “Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus and Armenia” and shared his experiences in the Asian countries. [6] A German soldier, Moltke, who served in the Ottoman army for a period of time, also visited Samsun. He came to Samsun by the Metternich steamship in 1838 [7] and contributed his observations about Samsun in his work “Letters from Turkey”. Another traveller who visited Samsun was A. D. Mordtmann. He came to Samsun in 1850 and gave lots of information about the weather and the population of the city [8]. In 1893, traveller V. Flottwell also visited Samsun. He also provided information about the population of Samsun [9].
Apart from these travellers who visited Samsun between the 1790s-1910s, horse races, festivals and fairs could be considered to fall within the context of the history of tourism at Samsun. Since the early 1900s, on every September of each year, horse races and fairs in Samsun started to take place. People interested in horses were coming to the city from all around Anatolia. A week before the race, the population of the city used to increase dramatically. It was very hard to find a vacancy at hotels or even find bread in the bakeries [10]. In those years, every fall and springtime, festivals were arranged at the city. During the festivals, the population of the city also increased [11]. Apart from these, sometimes minstrels were coming to Samsun, some of them very famous. They used to spend several months in the city [12].
ENDNOTES
[1] Research Assistant (Ph.D.), 19 Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
[2] Erdoğan Atmış, “Türkiye’de Yayla Turizminde Altyapı Sorunları”, (MA Thesis, İstanbul Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, III Section, İstanbul, 1994).
[3] Hamiyet Sezer, “Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Seyahat İzinleri (18-19.Yüzyıl)”, Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Tarih Bölümü Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi, 23:36, 2004, pp.105-124.
[4] Besim Darkot, “Samsun”, M.E. B İslam Ansiklopedisi, 10, pp.172-178.
[5] Süreyya Eroğlu, A.Alev Direr Akhan, “Seyahatnamelerde Sinop”, Atatürk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 17 (I), 2013, pp. 257-272.
[6] Ayşegül Kuş, “20. Yüzyılın İlk Yarısında W. J. Hamilton’a göre Samsun ve Çevresi”, Pamukkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 18, 2014, pp. 1-10
[7] Kemal Beydilli, “Moltke, Helmuth Von (1800-1891)”, TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi,30, (2005), pp. 267-268
[8] İbid, Darkot, p.176.
[9] İbid, Darkot, p.176.
[10] Baki Sarısakal, Samsun Eğlence Tarihi, (Samsun: Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2007), p.25.
[11] İbid, Sarısakal, p.29.
[12] İbid, Sarısakal, p.103.
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