The Black Sea, hostile and hospitable by turns, a land of towering mountain peaks, green tea plantations and thick forests, has attracted civilization to its shores since the dawn of time. Hittites, Greeks, Romans, Seljuk and Ottoman Turks, Georgians and Armenians, Genoese and Venetians, have all left their traces here. Not to mention the great descendant of Cyrus the Great, Mithridates. This scholarly and intrepid guide visits all 18 provinces of the Turkish Black Sea region, delving into their history and discovering all the present-day reasons for a traveller to go there. There are many.
