Safranbolu Things to Do

Yourk Koyu's old village laundry is open to visitors. One can see how the laundray was cleaned, how people interacted while doing laundry, and the Bektashi symbolism that was prominent even here. The interior also has dawrings of prominent buildings in the town.

In the heart of Safranbolu's old town is the Koprulu Mehmet Pasa Camii, the mosque built by Koprulu Mehmet Pasa, a powerful official who rose to become grand vizier in the mid-17th century. Koprulu Mehmet was from Albania and rose through the ranks of the janissary system. He married the daughter of a local landowner from the Safranbolu area and inherited the estate, founding a long line of government officials who played major roles in Ottoman government for the next hundred years. Apparently, his family is still around, with at least one Turkish historian and politician in the 20th centruy being descended from him. Mehmet's tomb, though, is in Istanbul.

There is a visitor information centre right in the central area of the old town. As one enters the old town by car from the new part of town (which is up hill from the core of the old area), one will arrive at a cnetral area with shops and parking, a small sqaure, etc. In that area is a small building with with the information centre. There, one can obtain maps on the city itself, the houses, museums, etc., in it, as well as the ther nearby villages around Safranbolu, such as Yoruk Koyu, that also have old houses and other sites to see.

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One hill in the old town, commanding scenic views over the town, is called Hidirlik.

One must pay a small few (a couple lira) to go to the top, but this includes a drink in the small cafe at the top and it offers great views of the oldl town. There are also toilets and one can see the Ahmet Lutfi Turbesi (tomb) there.

In the cafe, one can find various types of tea, including safran tea, a local speciality. It is very good, mild with a flavour somewhat like the much more common ihlamur (linden) tea found in Turkey, but slightly more minty. It is very good.

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Like Safranbolu itself, several of the old houses in Yoruk Koyu are open to visitors as museums. We went to one of the mansions in Yoruk Koru, Sipahioglu Konagi (the "Mansion of the Sipahi" - a sipahi being like a knight). The owner, who said he is among the 8th generation of the family to live there, provided a tour for 2 lira (about $1.50) per adult. He gave a very detailed explanation of the history of the house, the artwork, uses of each room, and all the family heirlooms in the house, including old furniture, phonograph, flag, etc. He explained the uses of different rooms in different seasons, the heating system, toilets, and baths, and the Bektashi history and symbolism in the frescoes. He also explained that although the family has a more modern house, they still use the old house in winter.

It is a wonderful and very interesting place to visit. He also sells local jams, preserved fruit, etc.

However, the owner does not, apparently, speak English.

The Turing Havuzlu Konak, or Mansion with Pool operated by the Touring Club of Turkey, which began serving guests in 1989, is the first historic mansion in Turkey to have been converted into a hotel. The nicest surprise of this mansion, which greets visitors at the entrance to the town and was once owned by one of its wealthiest families, is the approximately 1.8 meter-deep pool that holds several tons of water in the living room—restored and used as a café today.

During the years when Safranbolu was becoming a popular destination for tourists, there was a constant stream of visitors to the traditional houses. The house owners, who at first welcomed the tourists hospitably, naturally tired of this human traffic with time. But just at that point the museum houses came to the rescue. The first of them, and perhaps the most beautiful, is the Kaymakamlar Evi ( house of Governors), a house that was opened to visitors in 1981 following a restoration by the Ministry of Culture. This mansion is one of the most flawless examples of the Safranbolu house.

The interiors of the houses are as elegant as their exteriors. The low-ceilinged middle stories used in winter are cozy and warm like a womb while the upper floors, used in summer, are airy with high ceilings. The master bedroom, the most beautiful room with the best view, is usually situated on the topmost floor. This room, decorated with woodwork and stenciling, is where the master craftsmen exhibited all their skill. In typical Safranbolu houses, each room was furnished in such a way as to meet all the needs of the nuclear family. It is not for nothing that Safranbolu residents called each one of these rooms a ‘house’ since they could be a sitting room in the daytime thanks to divans running around the wall, simultaneously a kitchen thanks to the hearth, a bedroom thanks to the floor mattresses taken out of the cupboard at night, and a bathroom thanks to the washstand concealed in the cupboard! Because they were designed as independent units, each of the rooms was assigned a name such as ‘storage house’, ‘guest house’ or ‘dining house’.