Island of legends waits for visitors in Turkey's Giresun

GİRESUN - Anadolu Agency

The Giresun Island, the only one in the eastern Black Sea region that is also inhabited, has many mythological stories and historical ruins. Among the many mythologies is a legend that Amazonian women lived on the island and Hercules came to the island to find golden fur.
 
On the island, a team of people make dramatizations of the Greek Argonauts and Saka Turks. The story of Hercules and Amazonian women also draw great interest from visitors. 

Those visiting the island also have the chance to see Byzantine graves, historical walls and the ruins of a monastery and chapel. 

Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Kemal Gürgenci said the island had become a notable destination thanks to its rich myths and history. 

He said the island will be the face of the city as it is the only one in the eastern Black Sea region with life on it. 

“It is also the only place in which people have set foot on in the middle of the sea in the Black Sea region. This way, tourists can go to the sea from the island, besides the plateaus. The historical ruins and myths about the island reveal that it is not only a piece of land. This gives the island a good tourism opportunity,” Gürgenci said. 

Hakan Adanır, who organizes “travel in time” events on the island, said the Giresun Island is located on a trade route between Greece and Georgia. “The island was also located on the route of the golden fur legend of Hercules. He fought against birds, and there are still birds on the island,” he added. 

Adanır said in 800 B.C., the Argonauts, who were Greek sailors at the time, used to drop by the island when going to Georgia for golden trade. According to him, this story has remained in people’s memories for many centuries. 

“These historical events are very important in the history of the island. It is dramatized as the first meeting of the Saka Turks, who were the first Turks who came to the island before the Christian era, and the Argonauts. At first the two peoples refrained from meeting each other, but later they looked for the golden fur and ate food together. The legend of the golden fur opened a door for the people of this geography to live together in peace,” he said.