OFirst, a little background and history. Please read this in its entirety. DO NOT just look at the pictures.
Copied From Wiki:
Sinop Fortress Prison, (Turkish: Sinop Kale Cezaevi) was a state prison situated in the inside of the Sinop Fortress in Sinop, Turkey. As one of the oldest prisons of Turkey, it was established in 1887 within the inner fortress of the centuries-old fortification located on the northwestern part of Cape Sinop. The prison was closed down in 1997 and the inmates were transferred to a modern prison newly constructed for their detention.
The Sinop Fortress in Sinop is located direct at the coast of Black Sea on the northwest part of Cape Sinop.
The Sinop Fortress was constructed initially in the 7th century BC when the city was re-founded as a Greek colony from the city of Miletus. It was extended and repaired several times in its history by Persians, Kingdom of Pontus, Romans and Byzantines.
The fortress took its main form during the reign of Pontus King Mithradates Eupator in 72 BC.
The oldest document that shows the fortress was used as dungeon dates back to 1568. The walls of the fortress are 18 m high and 3 m wide.
There are eleven watchtowers of 22 meters in height, five of them added during the construction of the inner fortress.
Designed in U-shape, a stone masonry prison building with 28 halls on two floors was erected in 1887 in the inside of the southern inner fortress. The inner fortress holding the prison facilities covers an area of 10,247 m2.
The prison was considered as a high-security penitentiary with no escape possibility due to its position within a fortress. The top of the walls of the inner fortress served to the patrolling prison guard as walkway. The living conditions at the prison, where it was difficult even to light a match, were very harsh due to the moisture caused by the location of the prison very close to the sea.
The prison was abandoned on December 6, 1997 after the inmates were transferred to a newly built prison.
The prison facilities were handed over to the Culture and Tourism Ministry on August 2, 1999. The fortress prison is currently open to the public for sightseeing purposes. Originated from the increasingly presentation of the prison in the recent popular culture, there is a growing interest in visiting the site. The historical penitentiary hosts hundreds of thousands tourists yearly.
The prison hosted also many intellectuals, who were charged for political reasons.
Now, as Paul Harvey would say.......The rest of the story.......
Last night, the Antik Otel Reception Manager, Seyit Sen, spent 30 minutes assisting me with booking a bus to Ankara tomorrow. He speaks English very well.
Luckily, we did the booking when we did. Seyit contacted the bus line I rode in on from Trabzon - Ulusoy Bus Line - and they had only 2 busses to Ankara. One was arriving too late for me connect to my flight to Kathmandu. So I had one choice with Ulusoy. There was only one seat left on the bus and I excitedly said, "Yes, yes, reserve it!!"
Today, after breakfast with Yasaar Durucu, I updated the blog, transferred photos, etc. Then I set out to pick up my ticket at Ulusoy down by the harbor in Sinop. I jumped on a bus and then walked the rest of the way into town. Just happened by the ship shop I went in yesterday and asked the owner for directions. He drew me a great map and tried to explain the directions, but alll I needed was his map.
At Usuloy I met with the first real difficulty in communication in my trip, when I desperately needed to communicate. The young girl spoke no English and was not interested in helping me. I tried to explain that I had a reservation in my name tomorrow, 10/12 at 10:30 PM. She just repeatedly shook her head "No".
Tried finding someone to help and found a lady at the store next door that spoke some English. Even with her help, all I heard was "no, no, no, Metro, Metro".
Set out to find The Metro Bus office but ended up walking in circles for 30 minutes. Friendly people tried to help, but their directions were......faulty.
I was getting a bit frantic. I MUST get to Ankara, 8 hours buy bus, within 48 hours or I will miss my flight to Kathmandu. A flight will cost hundreds of dollars - if I can even get one........
I walked over to the Tourist kiosk, 3 blocks away, down by the harbor and the tea gardens. They were closed. Across the street was a Police Station, so I went in. "Speak English?". One young Officer spoke a very small amount of English. "Metro bus, Metro Bus" I said. I showed maps, and kept asking "Where Metro Bus?"
Finally, one of the officers said "We go Metro bus". And just like that, I was off in the backseat of a Sinop Police car with three friendly Sinop Police Officers. At Metro we were able to book a bus at the same time, for 55 lira, not without some communication difficulty, departing Sinop at 10:30 PM tomorrow night, arriving Ankara at 6 AM, 9 hours before my flight to Kathmandu.
The Officers asked if I had otell. I said "Antik Otel".
They asked "You go riide to Antik Otel?" I thought for an instant and said "Yes, we go Antik Otel" and just like that, all 4 of us were off again in the Police car. I thought, " How cool is this? A free taxi ride in a Police car in Sinop, Turkey. I will just take the bus from the hotel and head back to the prison for another walkabout. This will make a great story and will be a fitting prelude for my visit to the Sinop Prison Fortress in the afternoon".
And it was a pleasure to write about it and relive the day in today's blog. Hope you enjoyed it too.
On Walkabout and loving it.
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