For the village in Azerbaijan, see Göynük, Azerbaijan

Göynük, Azerbaijan

Göynük is a village and municipality in the Julfa Rayon of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. It has a population of 213....

.

Göynük is a town and a district of Bolu Province

Bolu Province

Bolu Province is a province in north western in the Black Sea region of Turkey, midpoint between the large cities of Istanbul and Ankara. It covers an area of 7,410 km², and the population is 271,208....

 in the Black Sea region of Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. It covers an area of 1,436 km², and the population (2000) is 18,589 of which 4,894 live in the town of Göynük. The mayor is Kemal Kazan (AKP

Justice and Development Party (Turkey)

The Justice and Development Party , abbreviated JDP in English and AK PARTİ or AKP in Turkish, is a centre-right political party in Turkey. The party is the largest in Turkey, with 327 members of parliament...

).

History

The area has a long history of occupation going back to the Phrygians, Lydians

Lydians

The Lydians were the inhabitants of Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spoke the distinctive Lydian language, an Indo-European language of the Anatolian group....

, Persians and Ancient Romans. The Çatak Hamamı bathhouse dates back to the Roman times
Göynük was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 in the early 14th century.

Sights

Göynük has over 100 early 20th century Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 period houses, these plus the even older mosques, tombs, fountains, and Turkish baths makes it a town of great historical interest, and an attractive location of narrow streets, with a pretty stream running through the centre. The clock tower on the hill at the top of the town is a Göynük landmark.

Trivia

Göynük was used as a location of films including Akrebin Yolculuğu by Ömer Kavur

Ömer Kavur

Ömer Kavur was a Turkish film director, producer and screenwriter. He directed 14 films between 1974 and 2003. His film Gece Yolculuğu was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival...

, and a number of Turkish TV series.

Notable natives

• Göynüklü Ahmed Efendi 18th century Ottoman bureaucrat, diarist and historian.