Bayburt

Bayburt lies beside the Çoruh, beneath a fortress that dominates the town and the road between Erzurum and the Black Sea. Armenian sources called it Payberd, while Marco Polo, passing through in the late thirteenth century, described its silver mines. Caravans from the Black Sea ports stopped here on their way towards Iran, making the castle a guardian of a valuable route through the mountains.

The Ottomans captured Bayburt from the Safavids in 1514 and repaired its stronghold under Sultan Süleyman. Its garrison protected an important frontier road, and for a time Ottoman governors of Erzurum resided here. When Evliya Çelebi visited in 1647, he found a quarter of houses and a mosque within the walls. Russian forces occupied Bayburt during the war of 1828–1829, when the fortress suffered heavy damage.