Most people live far away longing for the land where they were born and raised. The places where he once breathed, the streets he roamed, the countryside, the slopes pass before his eyes from time to time. He fits his hometown into the novel and poem he reads. Especially if he is a poet who lives far away and is banned like Nâzım Hikmet, he writes poems and articles about longing for his hometown. The longing for the homeland does not cease until we see a corner, stone or land, and does not go out until we meet:
“My hometown.
How vast is my homeland: it seems endless, inexhaustible.
Edirne, Izmir, Ulukisla, Maras, Trabzon, Edirne. I know the Erzurum highland only from its folk songs and to go south to cotton mills.
I am ashamed that I could not pass the Taurus once.”
Nazim hikmet
If you are a Black Sea citizen living far away, when you return to the city where you were born, it is not enough to wander around the streets, you want to visit every part of the coast.
Kiyi's "50th Anniversary" Karaca Cave was the main stop of our trip to the mountains, far from the city, with Attila Aşut and Ali Mustafa, who came to Trabzon for the "Anniversary Events" on September 4, 2011.
Whenever Ali Mustafa comes to Trabzon, we take our heads to the mountains. We always talk about literature and poetry in the footsteps of the roads, in the rains and in the sun, as we cross the hills and topple the mountains.
When our new companion, another writer, Attila Aşut; Our trip turned into a “mobile” literary activity all day long. We enlivened our day by visiting Mount Zigana.
Hamsikoy Alone, Desolate and Far Away
The first days of September… We said hello to a sunny Sunday morning. It was a good day for a trip. Kiyi's "50th Anniversary" I entered that night tired in the rush of hosting the guests who came to Trabzon for the "Anniversary Events". Moreover, it was a situation that we were not accustomed to leaving one event and rushing to the next. I fell asleep that morning when we were going on a trip. Attila Aşut and Ali Mustafa had already fined me for being late while they were waiting for me in Meydan Park!
We were only able to set out in the morning. We took a break in Maçka, which we reached in half an hour, and filled our food bag for the road.
We were climbing the mountains towards the Zigana Tunnel. When we came to Başarköy, Hamsiköy was winking at us, surrounded by greenery. After a very rainy season, Hamsiköy brought the green of spring days to autumn. It had an appeal, but no buyers. However, it was once very popular. Trabzon-Gümüshane highway used to pass through here. It was an indispensable stop for passenger buses and freight trucks. However, the winters were also causing difficulties for the drivers. Hamsiköy's reputation goes back even further, to the times when the Silk Road was used. Caravans, in Qatar, used to stop here and set off early in the morning, either to cross the mountain during the daytime or to arrive in Trabzon before nightfall. In the Black Sea region, some highlanders reach the plateau after staying here for a while. This is the pasture where those who go to the highland graze their animals every year…
Nowadays, Hamsiköy gives the impression of a child watching what is going on from the corner where he is offended by his playmates: Alone, desolate and far away… This process started with the transportation between the two regions being provided from the opposite slope of Hamsiköy. But hey, Öner Ciravoğlu quoted an article for a similar valley in the region: “There are no forests this beautiful even in the Alps. In the mountains around the monastery, beeches, oaks, hornbeams, squirrels, ash trees and giant firs grow. I would like to spend the rest of my life here.” der Tournefort. This is how every part of the region attracts people.
Even though the yellow and white lights of the sun appearing in the sky spread far and wide on the mountain, one should make preparations before each trip to the region. In the city, you cannot turn your face to the sky and evaluate the weather in the mountains. Zigana is changeable like some people of the Black Sea. You cannot predict what will happen to you.
The weather, which varies on one side of the mountain, is often not the same as on the other side. Once you see, there is fog all around you on one side... You see, a hot sun that makes you sweat on one side... Once you see, the fog crossing the pass with a cool wind on one side has been replaced by the sun on the other side...
In any case, you cannot take yourself away from the mountains and the poetry:
“A woman… in the snow in the winter She was walking in a secret dream One side clear vision The other side in resistance.”
Attila Asut
Since you can encounter different weather conditions at the same time in the heights of the Black Sea, you should have seasonal clothes in your bag. Sweaters, vests, boots, jackets, coats, shirts, etc. These are just some of the things you should have with you. If you want to leave a little trace on the paths of Zigana, you should have an umbrella and a raincoat with you. In the mountains where the wind is not missing, you should take an umbrella with you more to protect yourself from the sun.
It was the first month of autumn and we were not in danger of significant snowfall on the mountain. Snowfall started mostly in October on the peaks of Zigana Mountain.
We reached Başarköy. We could not remain indifferent to the sad wink of Hamsiköy from afar. When would Attila Aşut come to Trabzon again; moreover, when Hamsiköy was so hungry to eat rice pudding, regret would not be beneficial. It was worthwhile to wander around Hamsiköy for the sacrifice we will make in time!
Returning from a trip to the rice pudding, I turned the steering wheel to the Hamsiköy turn, saying that this is the time, to eat at a familiar rice pudding house in Başarköy, whose taste I had tasted before. When we descended into the valley, we found ourselves at one of the tables outside of a coffee shop in Hamsiköy. We took pictures while sipping our tea. Attila Asut told us about his journalism years in Trabzon and the writing work he will do in Ankara when he returns.
As we leave Hamsiköy, we salute Ahmet Özer, who has been a teacher here for many years. he is currently in the village of Olasa, either collecting hazelnuts or sitting in the shade, relieving the tiredness of Kıyı's 50th anniversary activities.
After Hamsiköy, we suddenly come across the "Gumushane Provincial Border" sign. A little above, there is the Zigana Tunnel, and on its back is the Zigana Pass, which we will stop by on our return trip. After passing the Zigana Tunnel, we find ourselves by the Harşit Stream below. We read the brown "Limni Lake" sign pointing to the slope a few hundred meters back from here. We will stop by Karaca Cave, the cornerstone of our trip, and stop by Zigana village and Güneş Art Center on the way back. From here we will reach the Limni Lake and from there to the Zigana Pass.
We reach Torul from the edge of Harşit Stream. Torul is a small town… When the tunnel construction work is completed, vehicle traffic will be provided from outside the city.
Karaca Cave
After Torul, we are at İkisu Mevkii. There are many signs showing the slopes of Mount Zigana here. “Karaca Cave”, “ikisu”, “Chrome Valley”, “Olucak village”, “imera Church”…
Ikisu's row houses with steep roofs covered with zinc display an unusual appearance on the coasts. The reason why zinc is preferred for roofs in this region is that it does not snow in winter… We climb to Karaca Cave from the beginning of İkisu village, through the curves. The flat area we arrived at is the parking lot. A cool wind blows from the opposite; the air has exploded or will explode.
There are many private cars and buses belonging to different tour companies in the parking lot. Most people coming from different regions take a cultural tour and take advantage of the nine-day holiday! There is also a restaurant that offers local flavors and processed metal stone vendors. I am intrigued by the abundance of these vendors whose stalls resemble a marketplace. However, there is no mineral mined in the region. The silver mine here has not been processed for years due to the high cost. I cannot learn from the sellers the reason for the interest shown in stone sales. The information given is limited to the purported benefit of the stones. Coral, mother-of-pearl, amethyst, pink quartz, jade (jade), onix (tiger's eye) are some of the stones sold in the stalls.
They say that one of the ways to get to know people is to travel together. Attila Asut is a life-sensitive person; his wife, Dr. Özen buys Aşut a pair of earrings made of onix stone. Attila Aşut does not believe that these stones can be beneficial. I still wish the brother Attila and his wife a healthy life by stating that the onix stone has the ability to heal wounds.
The cave is a little far from where the restaurants and vendors are. We reach the cave by enjoying the pleasure of watching from the stone-paved road. On the right and left, there are local women standing on a sackcloth to sell dried fruit, fruit pulp, and kome.
Countable large drops of rain descend on us from the sky. We are having a cup of tea in the gazebo at the entrance of the cave. Our conversation focuses on Kıyı.
After a while, fog covers everything.
The cave is located on the slopes of Zigana Mountain, overlooking the Krom Valley in İkisu locality. Opposite to the west are the Artabel Mountains. According to a rumor, Karaca Cave, which was brought to tourism with the discovery of a village shepherd in the region. KTU Geological Engineering Department Head Prof. Remzi Dilek and his team have had intense efforts and studies. The rich formations of the cave were identified with the scientific study titled "Karaca Cave and Hydrogeology", which was carried out in the cave between 1983-1990 by Geology Engineer Şükrü Eruz, who grew up in the village of Karaca. The cave was brought into tourism in 1996 after it was reported to the Gümüşhane Provincial Directorate of Tourism and registered. Karaca karst cave was formed by the erosion of approximately 145 million-year-old dolomatic limestones by CO2-rich groundwater. The formation took place in an in-tidal and subtidal environment as a result of excessive evaporation in an arid climate. The formation is still ongoing, and a one-cm stalagmite and stalactite have been formed over a period of more than ten years. The cave area has been under the influence of an intense fault and crack system. In terms of color and motif diversity, it has not yet been found in the world.
When we came out of the cave, the weather had changed so much that it was not clear whether it was raining or not. The sun reappeared, but somewhere on the way back Attila Aşut said, “Why didn't I take my overcoat?” he said, weary of the mountain cold.
Sun Art Center
The spirit of art does not give people the chance to choose a place. man can also exhibit his works in a nature where he can be inspired, under a roof where he can lay his head.
Azmi Aytekin, born in 1936, created just such a place for himself in the village of Zigana in Torul. One of the two parallel rooms where he sleeps and wakes up, the other is an entrance hall. The two rooms have a lot in common... both are dim. Both have fireplaces made from tree roots. The ashes inside reveal that the fireplace made of wood material was used. To my surprise, “Your fireplace is made of marble.” says Azmi Aytekin; “Mine is a stone, from a tree.” He turned the walls into an exhibition hall with tree roots and paintings. Faded notebook leaves with poems and faint signatures by visitors fill the empty spaces on the wall. Nâzım's poems and photographs draw attention on the walls.
The ceiling of the shelter, which Azmi Aytekin calls the "Sun Art Center", is a feast for the houses. The interesting tree roots he placed on the ceilings of two rooms are completely knitted with spider webs. He protected it from invading flies by carrying spiders to the shelter he built on the edge of the stream bed. Each root on the ceiling and walls forms a figure and Aytekin named them. When we sit down for the conversation, he talks like he's reading a poem. The fragmentary words he wants to give meaning are abstract like today's poetry. He likes to make irony. I do not take notes here in order not to misrepresent many of his words that we have difficulty in understanding. However, if I note that Azmi Aytekin, who camouflages the pear lamp hanging from the ceiling and wants a faded red piece of cloth with markings on it as a flag and wants it to be renewed, said, "What a flag, that's the hem of my shorts..." I think I would have revealed his humor-loaded side. There is also a stove inside, where the pipe of the stove was coiled half a meter above the ground and left inside the fireplace. There is definitely an object here that you can make sense of. If you are a sheltered “site boy”, it is not possible to enter this shabby place. If you have the spirit of art, that's different...
The sloe on the doorstep of Azmi Aytekin's shelter has become a lop! Considering that the Ankara Opera gives a concert here, "The place of art is everywhere." we can say.
We say goodbye to Azmi Aytekin and set off towards Limni Lake.
Zigana Pass
I have never seen Limnos Lake so thirsty, so weak. The surroundings are garbage, and there are barbecue shops… As soon as Attila sees the lake and the surrounding landscape; “Habu, did we come all the way here for the lake, Hasan!” said. However, we had hurriedly left Güneş Art Center to show him the place, hoping he would like it.
When I came to Limnos Lake in the summer, I would avoid the sun and retire to a table by the lake and absorb the fragrance of the pine trees with the chirping of birds. When I came in winter, I would speed up for a run and then slide on the ice-covered surface of the lake as if I was on a sled. On one of my visits here, I would find deep peace and the other I would experience adrenaline. This is a natural wonder for me.
Luck doesn't always knock on your door. There was neither the warm sun nor the frozen lake outside. What we see is from a drained lake; what we felt was just cool air. Except for the veal cutlet we ate in the gazebo, our only entertainment was to take a glance at the ducks in the lake once in a while. Visiting Limni Lake did not add anything to us other than the fullness of the snow we experienced and sharing the reproach of a Kıyı reader from Trabzon.
Coastal magazine left its mark on our trip, and we're definitely talking about it along the way.
I was carefully driving the car to get out of the fog that licks the tops of the pine trees in some places and engulfs us in some places and arrives at the Zigana Pass safely.
I said that the mountains of the Black Sea are as changeable as the people. There were moments when we joked along the way. As we set out, we decided to continue the 50th anniversary celebrations of Kıyı on the top of the mountains. Weather conditions seemed to hinder this. But be it; We had an umbrella to open in the drizzle. Our plastic cups in which we poured our drinks in one hand, our latest books in the other… with the increasing wind, the drizzle and the drizzling rain, we took shelter in our car and set off for the pass.
When the tunnel was built, Zigana Pass shared the fate of Hamsiköy.
But the regulars come here.
The name “Zigana” became a symbol by giving places and settlements. Many restaurants, hotels and social facilities that have become famous throughout the country have taken the name "Zigana".
Although Gümüşhane is within the provincial borders, most people think of Zigana when they say Trabzon, and when they say Trabzon, Zigana comes to mind. The reason for this is that this name and the plateaus located here are mostly used by the people of Trabzon.
The ski resort and facilities at the gorge are intertwined with several butchers that provide a “self-catering” opportunity. The gendarmerie station, whose building is on the verge of getting old, was terminated years ago. Roads stretch in all directions from the ridge of the mountain. After all, they didn't call it a "gate" for nothing. Countless plateaus on these roads are constantly lambing grass for the revival of animal husbandry that has been brought to an end.
From Zigana, you can reach Çakırgöl in the east and Kadırga Plateau in the west with the pleasure of watching.
This travel article has been taken from the book of our region's travel writer Hasan Kantarcı's In the Footsteps of the Road and published with the permission of the author.
