The Uzun Mehmet monument was built in 1973, in three months, under its architect Yılmaz Soylu. It was made by the Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the republic, with support from the governor of the day, Nihat Oğuz Bor. The idea behind it is the three martyrs held to belong to Zonguldak: the fallen soldier, the fallen miner, and Uzun Mehmet, the first victim of the mines and the legendary figure of the coalfield.
It was placed on the Balkaya ridge so that it could be seen from every part of what was then the city centre, despite the difficulty of getting there. In 1983 the municipality laid out the ground around the monument as a picnic area with walking paths. It is on the Zonguldak-Kozlu road, about two kilometres from the centre.
Getting there
- Access
- On the Zonguldak-Kozlu road about 2 km from the city centre: five minutes from the bus station by taxi or minibus, ten minutes from the centre by minibus.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Zonguldak as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 6.3 °C in January to 22.1 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August, September and October; rainfall is heaviest in December (154 mm) and lightest in May (55 mm). Long-term means for 1938-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
