Trebizond-Erzurum Route in Medieval Travelogue

Centers that located on trade and travel routes have maintained their importance throughout the history. Port cities, junctions of historic roads and capital cities have developed as absolute stopover places for these routes. Either it is the passion of states’ to acquire the historic routes or it is the curiosity of merchants or travelers, it has set ground for the information that is relevant to these centers to reach to us. In this sense, the part, that contains Trebizond, Zigana, Torul, Gümü？hane, Bayburt and Erzurum where can be count as the first stage of the historic caravan route from Trebizond, where is an important port city, to Tabriz, has been the subject to the notes of travelers from time to time. These travelers were the people who traveled mostly in medieval times, either for trade reasons or as ambassadors. We can obtain important informations for their observations and the informations that they heard, about the political rulers of the period, Turks’ activity towards the region, about the cultural structure of the region. This article, puts forth of the political, economic and geographic condition of the TrebizondErzurum route, based on the notes of medieval travelers, merchants or ambassadors who have seen Trebizond and Erzurum that are reaching to us