The building on Cephanelik Caddesi in Ortahisar, Trabzon, was built in the reign of Abdülhamid II in 1887-88 according to its inscription. Written sources record that it was used as an arsenal between 1916 and 1918, during the Russian occupation of Trabzon, and on 9 July 1919 the arsenal exploded and the building was badly damaged. It has since been restored and now operates as a restaurant and hotel.
It is masonry, built of cut stone and rubble stone, with a ground floor and two upper floors. The plan is circular, consisting of two thick-walled sections set one within the other, and the main entrance is on the west front — a round-arched, double-leaved iron door. Above the entrance, on its axis, is a stone-framed panel with plant motifs at the corners, holding an Ottoman tugra. The facade has two rows of windows, thirteen in each row, all identical: round-arched, stone-framed, double-leaved and wooden.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Trabzon as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 7.3 °C in February to 23.5 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August, September and October; rainfall is heaviest in October (113 mm) and lightest in July (37 mm). Long-term means for 1927-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
