In the original edit of this 8mm film I mistakenly called it our "Pontine" Drama. Having looked at a map of the area recently I realise that I was mistaken and apologize to any viewers for any confusion! The area we drove through would have been the "Pontic" Mountains.
Not really, Trabzon city has just incorporated all of the province into a metropolitan area. Ortahisar is just the Turkish name for the historical central neighborhood of the city. Trabzon has had the same name for at least 2700 years: Trapezous, Trapezounta, Trebisonda, Trebizond, Trapezunt, Trabuzan, Trabzon.. it's all the same and it's not going to change. The name comes from the Greek word for 'table', due to the flat central hill (Ortahisar incidentally) flanked by steep cliffs on both sides. Trabzon was an important city on the roads connecting the Roman and Byzantine Empires to Armenia, Persia and beyond. In the middle-ages it was indeed an important northern end point of the Silk Road (not a geographic region but a network of trading routes and outposts spanning from Eastern Europe to China!).
