The city has been governed by mayor Tanju Özcan (CHP) sincelocal elections in 2019. It was the site of Ancient Claudiopolis and has also been called Eskihisar ("old fortress") (and as such has several Turkish namesakes).
The old highway (D-100) betweenAnkara andIstanbul climbs over Mount Bolu, while the new motorway (E-80) passes throughMount Bolu Tunnel, a little distance from the town. It is situated at 742 m (2,434 ft) above sea level on the southern slopes of a bare hill.[3]
The statue from Antonine Dynasty period, 2nd century AD, of crystalline white marble and stems from Bithynia - Claudiopolis inBolu Museum
Bolu was part of one of theHittite kingdoms around 2000 BC and later 500 BC became one of the leading cities of the Greek Kingdom ofBithynia (279 BC - 79 BC). Bebryces, Mariandynes, Koukones, Thyns and Paphlagons are native people of the area in antique era.Strabo (XII, 4, 7) mentions aHellenistic town, Bithynium (Greek:Βιθύνιον), celebrated for its pastures and cheese, which according toPausanias (VIII, 9) was founded byArcadians fromMantinea.[4][5]
In theAncient Roman era, as is shown by its coins, the town was commonly calledClaudiopolis (Greek: Κλαυδιούπολις) after EmperorClaudius. It was the birthplace ofAntinous, the posthumouslydeified lover of theRoman EmperorHadrian, who was very generous to the city, and his name was later added to that of Claudius on the coins of the city. EmperorTheodosius II (408-50) made it the capital of a new province, formed out of Bithynia andPaphlagonia, and called by himHonorias in honour of his younger son and successorHonorius. The town was also known as Hadriana during thelate Roman period.
During theByzantine period, the city continued to be referred to as Claudiopolis. After theBattle of Manzikert in 1071, in which the Byzantine Empire suffered a defeat against theSeljuks,Turkomans migrating west occupied the city. It was recaptured by the Byzantines in 1097, and became a frontier town during theKomnenian period. Torwards the end of 1179, the Turks laidsiege to Claudiopolis, attempting to starve its inhabitants, but emperorManuel I Komnenos rapidly moved to the area, causing the Turks to abandon the siege and flee.[6][7] According to Niketas Choniates:
Manuel, unwilling to wait for news of disaster, rose up the next day and set out for Claudiopolis as fast as possible via Nikomedia. He took with him none of the royal luxuries—not even royal pavilion, bed, or mattress—but only the horse trappings and armor woven of chain mail. He extended the distance of the day's march in his eagerness to reach the besieged before they should suffer dangers beyond description. [..] The barbarians positioned about Claudiopolis caught sight of him as he approached, first aware of his arrival from the military standards of his divisions and the radiant splendor of their arms, and forthwith took flight.[6]
After the fall of the Komnenian dynasty, Claudiopolis was conquered by theSultanate of Rum in 1197, and began to be referred to asBoli, short for the GreekPolis.
In 1325, the town was conquered by theOttoman Empire underOrhan, becoming known under the present Turkish name - sometimes calledBolou orBoli. It was also ruled byCandaroğlu between 1402 and 1423. It became the chief town of asanjak in thevilayet (province) ofKastamonu and had a population of 10,000 inhabitants. Bolu was an Ottomaneyalet (state) until the Charter of States (Vilayetler Nizannamesi) of 1864, and was within the area stretching fromBeykozkazasi ofİzmid sanjak toBoyabat kazasi ofSinop sanjak. In the late 19th and early 20th century, following the 1864Vilayetler Nizannamesi, Bolu was part of theKastamonu Vilayet of the Empire.
The city, known as Hadrianopolis (like many others) underByzantine rule fell toTurkmens migrating west in the 11th century who called it Boli, was recaptured by Byzantines in 1097,besieged unsuccessfully by theSultanate of Rum in 1179 and conquered in 1197. Under Ottoman rule since the 14th century it lost toHeraclea Pontica the Metropolitan dignity. It ceased to exist as a residential bishopric in the 15th century.
MichelLequien mentions twenty bishops of the see to the 13th century; documentary mentions are available for the following incumbent (Arch)bishops :
the first isSt. Autonomus, said to be an Italian missionary who suffered martyrdom underDiocletian.
The archdiocese was nominally restored by theRoman Catholic Church as a Latin Metropolitantitular archbishopric no later than the seventeenth century, first named Claudiopolis (Latin) / Claudiopoli (Curiate Italian), renamed in 1933 as Claudiopolis in Honoriade (Latin) /Claudiopoli di Onoriade (Italiano) / Claudiopolitan(us) in Honoriade (Latin).[9]
Panoramic view of the municipality squareLakeGölcük is a popular tourist destinationBolu GovernorshipTown hall or municipality building in the city centerA formerhammam building, now used as a shoe shop and a restaurant in the city centerLake Abant Nature Park is the most popular tourism destination near Bolu Wildlife withinYedigöller National Park includes, but is not limited to, red deer, roe deer, wild boar, brown bears, wolves, red fox, lynx, jungle cats, otters and squirrels
The countryside around Bolu offers excellent walking and other outdoor pursuits. There are hotels in the town. Sights near the town include:
The 14th-century grand mosque,Yıldırım Bayezid Camii (C pronounced as J).
Bolu Museum holding artifacts from Hittite, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods.
The remains of the ancient city of Bithynium have been found in four hills in the city centre, Kargatepe, Hisartepe, Hıdırlıktepe and the Uğurlunaip Hill. In Hıdırlıktepe, a tomb and the remains of a theatre have been uncovered. In Hisartepe, a temple believed to have been built by the Roman emperorHadrian for his loverAntinous has been excavated.[14] In 1911, it was noted that "in and around [Bolu] are numerous marbles with Greek inscriptions, chiefly sepulchral, and architectural fragments."[17]
Bolu Museum was established in 1975 to display and protect artifacts found in the Bolu area. It functions as both an archaeological and an ethnographic museum and is home to 3286 archaeological and 1677 ethnographic artifacts, as well as 12,095 historical coins. The archaeological artifacts chronicle the history of the area fromNeolithic to Byzantine eras.[18]
Local specialities include a sweet made of hazelnuts (which grow in abundance here) and an eau-de-cologne with the scent of grass. One feature of Bolu dear to the local people is the soft spring water (kökez suyu) obtained from fountains in the town.
Bolu is home to 12 local newspapers published in the city centre, two local TV channels (Köroğlu TV and Abant TV), three local radio stations and six local magazines.[19]
Bolu is a busy market town rather than a large city. It has one long shopping street and an attractive forested mountain countryside. Students from theuniversity and soldiers based in Bolu make an important contribution to the local economy, which traditionally depended on forestry and handicrafts. Market day is Monday, when people from the surrounding villages come into town for their weekly shop.
The main road from Istanbul to Ankara used to crossMount Bolu, although more people would stop at the roadside restaurants than actually come into the town, and anyway now theMount Bolu Tunnel is open most people will rush by on the motorway rather than climb up into Bolu, especially in winter when the road has often been closed due to ice and snow. Some of the service stations on the mountain road have already announced their closure or moved elsewhere.
^abNiketas Choniates. O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniatēs [1118-1207], translated by Harry J. Magoulias (Detroit, 1984). p. 111, 112
^Vryonis, Speros (1971). The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamisation from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century. Berkeley: California University Press. p. 124
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Pétridès, Sophrone (1908). "Claudiopolis". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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