Kümbet Plateau: Giresun’s Summer Highland

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1. What is Kümbet Plateau?
2. How do you get to Kümbet Plateau?
3. When is the best time to visit Kümbet Plateau?
4. What is the history of Kümbet Plateau?
5. What is Kümbet Plateau famous for?
6. What can you do at Kümbet Plateau?
7. Frequently asked questions about Kümbet Plateau
8. What do the official records say about Kümbet Plateau?

What is Kümbet Plateau?

Kümbet Yaylası is the best-known of Giresun’s summer pastures: a spread of meadows and spruce forest at 1,640 m above the Aksu valley, in Dereli district. Like all the yaylas of the eastern Black Sea, it began as a place where coastal families took their animals in summer, and it has grown into a small summer settlement of wooden houses, shops and guesthouses.

The 2002 inventory treats Kümbet as the centre of a wider tourism area that takes in neighbouring pastures and the Aymaç hill, and notes that it is used heavily for camping and picnics. It is still the yayla most visitors from the coast reach first, and on summer weekends the meadows fill with families, barbecues and music.

How do you get to Kümbet Plateau?

Kümbet lies south of Giresun off the Giresun–Dereli–Şebinkarahisar road. The inventory describes two routes. The shorter one leaves the main road after Dereli and climbs via Güdül and Yüceköy, about 60 km from the city. The longer one continues on the Şebinkarahisar road and climbs via İkisu and Uzundere, about 84 km. The inventory recommends going up one way and coming back the other for the views. Both routes are paved today, though the upper sections are narrow and winding.

In July and August minibuses run up from Giresun and Dereli; at other times you need a car or taxi. Ordu-Giresun Airport is about 25 km west of Giresun city.

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When is the best time to visit Kümbet Plateau?

July and August are peak season, when houses are open, shops and restaurants are working and the festival takes place. June brings wild flowers and fewer people. By late September the yayla empties out, and in winter snow closes much of the settlement. Even in midsummer evenings are cool, so bring a warm layer.

What is the history of Kümbet Plateau?

Kümbet’s history is that of the yayla tradition itself. For generations, families from the hazelnut villages below moved up to the pastures each summer with cattle and sheep, returning to the coast in autumn. The highland festivals grew out of these seasonal gatherings, when villages from different valleys met on the high ground.

From the 1990s the state began to promote such pastures for tourism. The 2002 inventory records that Kümbet already had electricity, water and telephone lines, a primary school, a health post and a small hotel, and that the surrounding area, including Aymaç, Melikli Obası and Yavuzkemal, was in heavy use for camping and picnics.

What is Kümbet Plateau famous for?

• The Kümbet highland festival, held each July on Aymaç hill, with horon dancing and music.
• Aymaç hill, about 2 km north-west of the yayla centre, a grassy summit with wide views.
• Lamb. The inventory notes, as a peculiarity of Kümbet, that its butchers sold only lamb.
• Spruce forest and meadows covered in wild flowers in early summer.

What can you do at Kümbet Plateau?

Walk up Aymaç. The hill about 2 km north-west of the centre is the best viewpoint, a grassy top with spruce forest and wild flowers along the way, and the site of the summer festival.

Picnic at Salon Çayırı. About 1 km before the yayla centre on the road from Giresun, the forestry service laid out the Salon Çayırı picnic area in the forest.

Explore the neighbouring yaylas. Melikli Obası and the Bektaş–Kulakkaya area lie to the west, Tamdere and its mineral springs to the south on the Şebinkarahisar road.

Eat yayla food. Fresh butter, cheese and grilled lamb are the things to try, along with the corn bread and black cabbage soup of the coast.

Stay the night. Small hotels and rented yayla houses operate in summer; book ahead for festival weekends.

Drive on to Tamdere. Tamdere Yaylası, also in Dereli district, lies on the Şebinkarahisar road about 80 km from Giresun and 27 km from Şebinkarahisar. It is known across the region for its natural mineral water, bottled and sold throughout Giresun, and makes a good stop if you continue south over the mountains to Şebinkarahisar Castle.

What to bring. Warm clothes and rain gear even in August, since weather on the pastures changes quickly and fog can roll up from the valleys in the afternoon. Cash is useful for small shops and village sellers.

Frequently asked questions about Kümbet Plateau

What do the official records say about Kümbet Plateau?

Kümbet is 52 km south of Giresun, within the boundaries of Dereli district. If the trip to Kümbet yayla is made by going via İkisu and returning via Güdül, it is possible to come across matchless views. On the yayla, at an altitude of 1,640 m, infrastructure services have been completed.

The Kümbet yaylas, made up of many yaylas such as Aymaç Hill, Melikli Obası and Yavuzkemal, are used intensively as a camping and picnic area. Aymaç, 2 km west of Kümbet, is a matchless summit. One of the features of Kümbet yayla is that its butchers sell only lamb.

Aymaç is a hill rich in natural beauty that commands the surrounding view. Spruce forests and wild flowers adorn the way along the road. The yayla consists of flat areas covered in grass and scattered through the forest. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Giresun Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)