Abstract:

Trabzon is a region that has hosted many communities throughout history. Therefore, it is possible to see traces of various cultures in the region. Since the settlements in the coastal part of Trabzon were to a great extent served for the commercial activities, the population of this region has been cosmopolite. Today, the settlements established in the valleys where agriculture and livestock-based livelihoods are common and people from the same lineage are more intense. This diversity has had a great effect in shaping the cultural texture of Trabzon since the early ages. It is seen that there is a multicultural structure on the shore whereas there have been cultures in the valleys having preserved their originality for centuries. As the cultural texture of Trabzon shows the difference between the valley and coastal settlements, the valley settlements can be divided into two groups. Some of these valleys were built before the Turkish settlement thereby making the Greek/Orthodox culture intense. On the other hand, Turkish-Islamic culture is dominant in the valleys with the Turkish settlement such as Agasar and Fol valleys. Tonya was an uninhabited place in the Fol Valley until the early 19th century, but it became a Turkish settlement with the domination of the Ottoman Empire. In the last period of the Trebizond Greek State, the Fol Valley became the border between the Turks and the Greeks. After the Ottomans dominated the region, the Fol Valley was opened to settlement. Since it was founded by the Turks, the Turkish influence in Tonya's cultural texture is quite considerable. Although the monocultural structure of the region diversified with the settlement of the Greeks, the Turkish prevalence in the cultural texture of Tonya continued. The traces of the Greek/Orthodox culture are not so visible in the Fol valley as that of Altındere or Kromni.

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