Over a period of approximately 2,500 years, Sinope has at various times been settled by
Colchians and then the
Greeks (in the late 7th, late 5th, and 4th–3rd centuries BC) and by
Turkic people beginning in the 13th century. In the 19th and 20th centuries it was also settled by the
muhacir who immigrated from the
Balkans and
Caucasus. The Greek colony of Sinope () was founded by
Ionians from the city of
Miletus. Sinope issued its own coinage, founded colonies, and gave its name to a red earth pigment called
sinopia, which was mined in
Cappadocia for use throughout the ancient world. Some scholars have dated the earliest
Greek colonization of Sinope to the 7th c. BC, while others have proposed an earlier date in the 8th c. While literary evidence exists supporting earlier settlement, archaeological evidence has been found of Greek settlement around the
Black Sea region beginning in the late 7th century. Sinope was strategically located among the trade routes that were developing on the southern Coast of the Black Sea, but remained relatively isolated from other inland communities until the 4th century BC. There is literary evidence of early links between
Colchis and Sinope in mythological tradition.
Strabos writings link the legendary founder of Sinope,
Autolycus, with
Jason and the
Argonauts.
Polybius described Sinope as being "on the way to
Phasis". The Persian
Achaemenid Empires northward expansion in the 4th century disrupted Sinope's control over its eastern colonies, including
Trapezus (present day Trabzon). The
satrap Datames briefly occupied the city around 375 BC. There is archaeological evidence of increased economic activity between the port city of Sinope and the surrounding inland areas during between 4th and 1st c. BC. Sinope appears to have maintained its independence from the dominion of
Alexander the Great, and with the help of
Rhodes turned back an assault led by
Mithridates II of Pontus in 220 BC. Sinope eventually fell to
Pharnaces I in 183 BC, after which it became the capital of the
Pontic Kingdom. In 1081, the city was captured by the
Seljuk Turks, who found there a sizeable treasury and also destroyed the Church of
Saint Phocas. Sinope was soon recovered by
Alexios I Komnenos, who rebuilt the city and church, ushering a period of prosperity under the
Komnenian dynasty. The city returned briefly to
Trapezuntine rule in 1254, but returned to Turkish control in 1265, where it has remained since.
Ibn Battuta visited the city and stayed for about forty days. He noted it was "a superb city which combines fortification with beautification." In 1614, Sinop was targeted by
Cossack raiders and extensively looted and burned in an event which shocked Ottoman contemporaries. In November 1853, at the start of the
Crimean War, in the
Battle of Sinop, the
Russians, under the command of Admiral
Nakhimov, destroyed an Ottoman frigate squadron in Sinop, leading Britain and France to declare war on Russia. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Sinop was part of the
Kastamonu Vilayet of the
Ottoman Empire. As of 1920, Sinop was described as populated mainly by
Greeks with an approximate population of 8,000. It was also considered the "safest" port "between
Bosphorus and
Batum", at the time. During this period, the port was exporting
wheat,
tobacco, seeds, timber and hides. They imported produce, coal and hardware. The Greek inhabitants left in 1923 after the
Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey, with many settling in
Nea Sinopi. Sinop hosted a
US military base and radar that was important for intelligence during the
Cold War era. The US base was closed in 1992. Explorer
Robert Ballard discovered an ancient ship wreck north west of Sinop in the Black Sea and was shown on
National Geographic. ==Numismatics==