Population: 25,280
Market day: Monday
Travelling between Kastamonu and Sinop, you will probably have to break your journey in the small town of Boyabat about which guidebooks are curiously silent despite the fact that just a short walk away from the bus station a bridge runs across a spectacular gorge formed by the Kazdere, a tributary of the Gökırmak (Blue River). From one side of it an enormous castle glowers down at the water. It probably dates back to the seventh century BC but was reconstructed time and again by the Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans.
This was once the heart of Paphlagonia whose people seemed to have worked hand in glove with the neighbouring Phrygians but whose language is still a mystery.
With an hour or so to spare you could stroll around the old market area where women sell block-printed shawl-headscarves called pitis.
- Don’t leave town without trying sırık kebabı, the local grilled-lamb meat treat
Transport info
There are regular dolmuşeş from Kastamonu and Sinop to Boyabat.
