Turkey
Giresun Island
The eastern Black Sea's only island, its Hellenistic temple foundations sleeping beneath hazelnut trees.
The fishing boat pitches through the Black Sea swell before the island materialises, a dark hump of hazelnut trees and wild herbs rising from grey-green water. Giresun Island is small enough to circle on foot in an hour, quiet enough to hear the waves from every point, and old enough that ancient writers called it Aretias, the island of Ares.
Giresun Island is the only island of the eastern Turkish Black Sea, about a kilometre and a half offshore from the city of Giresun. Ancient sources identify it as Aretias, the island of Ares, where Jason and the Argonauts were said to have been attacked by bronze-feathered birds. City walls, the foundations of a Hellenistic temple possibly dedicated to the war god, a Byzantine monastery, chapels and old wells reveal how long the little island has been used. Each May it anchors the Aksu Festival, a centuries-old fertility tradition in which locals circle the island in boats and cast pebbles into the sea.
Solo
A trip to the eastern Black Sea's only island delivers mythology, archaeology and the particular solitude of a place most travellers have never heard of. Walk the ruins with just the wind and the gulls.
Couple
The short crossing, the island's windswept beauty and its layered mythology feel like walking into a story. Pack a lunch and find a sheltered spot among the hazelnut trees.
- Giresun Island is the eastern Black Sea's only island, a short boat hop from Giresun harbour.
- Local tradition links the island to the Amazons, and the centuries-old Aksu Festival each May still circles it with ritual offerings to the sea.
- Ruins of a Byzantine monastery and a Hellenistic temple stand along a short walking circuit.
- Ancient walls, chapels and wells crowd an island of barely four hectares.
Giresun hazelnuts, from the province the portal calls the homeland of the nut.
Karalahana diblesi, black kale cooked down with rice, onion and a single hot pepper.
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