Boztepe: Ordu’s Hilltop Viewpoint

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

What is Boztepe?

Boztepe is the hill that rises straight up behind Ordu, so close to the centre that the city seems to be pressed between it and the sea. The summit is a park with tea gardens, restaurants and terraces, and the view takes in the whole bay: the seafront and harbour below, the coast curving away east towards Giresun and west towards Perşembe, and the hazelnut-covered hills folding back towards the mountains.

The name is simple Turkish: boz means grey and tepe hill, though in summer the slopes are anything but grey, covered in hazelnut orchards and woodland right up to the summit park.

Since 2012 a cable car has run from the city to the top, and riding it has become the standard first thing to do in Ordu. Locals come up in the evening for tea and the sunset; visitors come for the view and the photographs.

How do you get to Boztepe?

By cable car: The aerial lift opened in June 2012 and climbs from the city to the summit in about six and a half minutes. It is the easiest and most enjoyable way up, with the city falling away beneath the cabins.

By road: A road winds up the hill from the city, so you can also drive or take a taxi, which is useful if the cable car is closed for wind or maintenance.

Ordu-Giresun Airport is about 19 km east of the city centre.

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When is the best time to visit Boztepe?

Go on a clear day, and ideally late in the afternoon so you can watch the sun set over the bay and the lights of the city come on. Summer evenings are lively and busy. In winter and on rainy days, cloud can sit on the hill and hide the view completely, so check the sky before you go.

What is the history of Boztepe?

The hill has always overlooked Ordu, but the city around its foot is relatively young. The modern town grew from Bayramlı, an Ottoman military post a few kilometres west, and took the name Ordu in 1869; the ancient settlement of Kotyora lay on the shore 2 km from today’s centre. As the city spread along the bay in the 20th century, Boztepe became its natural lookout and recreation ground.

From the summit you are looking down on one of the oldest harbours on this coast. Xenophon’s Ten Thousand, the Greek mercenaries marching home from Persia around 400 BC, camped at Kotyora for 45 days while they argued over whether to continue by land or sea, and the bay below Boztepe is where they waited. Ordu became a province of its own in 1921, and its growth since then, much of it built on the hazelnut trade, is laid out beneath you.

The cable car of 2012 changed the hill from a local picnic spot into Ordu’s signature attraction, linking the city centre directly with the summit park.

What is Boztepe famous for?

• The view over Ordu and the Black Sea coast, one of the best city panoramas on the coast.
• The cable car, running since 2012.
• Sunsets and evening tea in the summit gardens.

What can you do at Boztepe?

Ride up and walk the summit park. Terraces along the edge of the hill give different angles on the city and the coast.

Have tea or a meal with a view. The summit has tea gardens and restaurants; a glass of tea and a plate of hazelnuts is the local ritual.

Photograph the bay. Late afternoon light is best; on very clear days you can follow the coastline a long way in both directions.

Combine with the city. Back down in the centre, the Paşaoğlu Mansion and Ethnography Museum, the Taşbaşı Culture Centre (a former church) and the Atik İbrahim Paşa Mosque are all within walking distance.

Head further afield. Boztepe gives you the lie of the land for the rest of the province: west along the coast lie Cape Jason and Ünye Castle, and the mountains to the south hide yaylas such as Perşembe and Çambaşı.

Practical tips. Bring a jacket: the summit is noticeably windier and cooler than the seafront. On summer weekends and holidays, queues for the cable car can build in the late afternoon, so go a little earlier if you want to catch the sunset without waiting.

Frequently asked questions about Boztepe

What do the official records say about Boztepe?

The 2002 provincial inventory has no separate entry for Boztepe, but its description of Ordu is what you see from the top: Ordu province, which holds every natural beauty in its bosom and where green and blue embrace, has a place and value of its own in tourism. Ordu undoubtedly owes this value to the Black Sea, which is very calm in summer and turns wild with foaming waves in winter, and to its lovely coasts, yaylas and forests.

Ordu province, where all the beauties of nature are generously displayed, is one of the few fast-developing provinces of the Black Sea region. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ordu Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)

Main photo: Anil Agiral, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.