Bolu
Bolu is on the old highway from Istanbul to Ankara, which climbs over Mount Bolu, while the new motorway passes through Mount Bolu Tunnel below the town.
Bolu was part of one of the Hittite kingdoms around 2000 BC and later 500 BC became one of the leading cities of the Kingdom of Bithynia (279 BC - 79 BC) . Bebryces,Mariandynes, Koukones, Thyns and Paphlagons are native people of the area in antique era.Strabo (XII, 4, 7) mentions a Hellenistic town, Bithynium (Greek: Βιθύνιον), celebrated for its pastures and cheese, which according to Pausanias (VIII, 9) was founded byArcadians from Mantinea.[4][5]
In the Ancient Roman era, as is shown by its coins, the town was commonly called Claudiopolis after Emperor Claudius. It was the birthplace of Antinous, the posthumously deified favourite of the Roman EmperorHadrian, who was very generous to the city, and his name was later added to that of Claudius on the coins of the city. Emperor Theodosius II (408-50) made it the capital of a new province, formed out of Bithynia andPaphlagonia, and called by him Honorias in honour of his younger son Honorius.
The bishopric of Claudiopolis became the metropolitan see of the Roman province of Honorias, with five suffragan sees: Heraclea Pontica, Prusias ad Hypium, Tium, Cratia, and Hadrianopolis in Honoriade. It appears as such in the Notitiae Episcopatuum of Pseudo-Epiphanius of about 640 and in that of Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise of the early 10th century. Lequien mentions twenty bishops of the see to the 13th century; the first is St. Autonomus, said to have suffered martyrdom under Diocletian; we may add Ignatius, a friend and correspondent of Photius. The city was known as Hadrianopolis under Byzantine rule. Turkmens migrating west settled the city in the 11th century and it was referred to as Boli, Turkicized short for Polis. It fell under Ottoman rule in the 14th century and lost to Heraclea Pontica the metropolitan dignity. It ceased to exist as a residential bishopric in the 15th century.[6][7][8][9][10] Accordingly, it is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[11]
Bolu is home to examples of Ottoman architecture. The Grand Mosque dates to 1899, but was originally built by Bayezid I and is home to decorations that resemble embroideries.[12] The Kadı Mosque is perhaps the best example of classical Ottoman architecture in the city, having been built in 1499 and having its entrance embroidered with ornate kündekari works.[13][14] Other Ottoman mosques in the city include the İmaret Mosque, built in the 16th century,[15] Saraçhane Mosque, built in 1750, Ilıca Mosque, built in 1510-11, Karaköy Cuma Mosque, built in 1562-63 and Tabaklar Mosque, built in 1897.[13]
The remains of the ancient city of Bithynium have been found in four hills in the city centre, Kargatepe, Hisartepe, Hıdırlıktepe and the Uğurlunaip Hill. In Hıdırlıktepe, a tomb and the remains of a theatre have been uncovered. In Hisartepe, a temple believed to have been built by the Roman emperor Hadrian for his lover Antinous has been excavated.[13] In 1911, it was noted that "in and around [Bolu] are numerous marbles with Greek inscriptions, chiefly sepulchral, and architectural fragments."[16]
Bolu Museum was established in 1975 to display and protect artifacts found in the Bolu area. It functions as both an archaeological and an ethnographic museum and is home to 3286 archaeological and 1677 ethnographic artifacts, as well as 12,095 historical coins. The archaeological artifacts chronicle the history of the area from Neolithic to Byzantine eras.
BOLU PRIVATE SECURITY COMPANY