Hidden Gem: Gumushane Santa Ruins

Gumushane is probably one of the last places to come to mind when you think of places to visit in Turkey. However, right behind the Black Sea Highlands, Gümüşhane, a city rich in minerals as well as in terms of culture, has been overshadowed by Trabzon both geographically and in terms of awareness. Santa Ruins, located within the borders of Gümüşhane province, is a hidden gem in the truest sense of the word! In the Eastern Black Sea part of my Caucasian journey, I went to Gümüşhane just to see the Santa Ruins, in this article you will find what you don't know about the hidden gem Santa Ruins!

I saw Santa Ruins on social media and put it on my list of places that I must see. My every journey starts with a dream, and my Santa journey started by chasing after a few photos I saw.

Actually, I didn't include Gümüşhane in my Caucasus trip route. However, when the plateaus in Trabzon did not attract my attention, I turned to historical and cultural places in that region. It was inevitable that this orientation would end in the Santa Ruins.

How to Get to Santa Ruins

I don't actually give directions at the beginning of the article, but since our arrival at the Santa Ruins is a story in itself, I wanted to tell this part first.

Those who know me know that if I put my mind to something, my eyes will not see anything until I do it. “Can we go to the Santa Ruins?” After saying that, what would I do and go 🙂 We were coming from Trabzon Maçka side and on the side “How can we go to Santa Ruins, is the road smooth?” When we asked, we did not get a proper answer. When we went to Karaca Cave on the Gümüşhane side from Maçka, we asked the officials there and got the information that “the road is good, it has just been built”. No one could hold me anymore

How to get to Santa Ruins from Gumushane direction?

In order to go to Santa Ruins from Gümüşhane city center, it is necessary to first continue towards Arzular Village and then plateau roads in the direction of Yağmurdere. Santa Ruins is about 70km from Gumushane. You can find the Ruins by continuing in the direction of Taşköprü Plateau, not in the direction of Yağmurdere, already in this direction Santa Ruins signs are densely placed, you will not get lost. The road up to Taşköprü Plateau is quite smooth, although there are some deteriorations, it is an asphalt road. There are options such as hostels and hotels for accommodation in Taşköprü Plateau. You can stay here and see the Santa Ruins, we regret that we didn't do that 🙂

After Taşköprü Plateau, there is a 10km dirt road. Although the road is bad at the moment, there is a feverish road work, it will probably be completed soon. We went with our own vehicle, so I don't know if there is public transportation. However, Taşköprü Plateau seems quite active, minibuses may be coming to this plateau even if it is not Santa, it is worth investigating. From here, there is a nice walk to the Santa Ruins, which is 10km.

Although heavy fog fell after Taşköprü, even the fog could not prevent us from understanding how beautiful the valley we passed was. Dark green pine forests on one side of the valley and grassland covered with mountain flowers on the other. The waters flowing from the hills pierce the pine forests and reach the streams at the bottom of the valley. Even though we stopped and took a photo break from time to time, what we took because of the fog was not enough to describe the beauty of the valley. Only 1 km remained from the Santa Ruins, the fog rose and the Santa Village suddenly appeared with its stone houses, tile roofs and church. This was the moment I was waiting for and it was totally worth the wait.

How to get to Santa Ruins from Trabzon direction?

There is also transportation to Santa Ruins via Trabzon Araklı. But watch out here! There are multiple ways here. More precisely, there is no single transportation to a place in the Black Sea Region in general. There are many roads from the valley, the hill, the slope, but some of them are really bad. For this reason, it is useful to be very careful and ask more than one person while determining the route you will take. Coming to our story, we asked a villager uncle in Santa Village for the way to Trabzon, we wouldn't have asked 🙂

When you leave the village, you will cross a bridge, do not turn left, turn right, he said, there is roadwork on the left, whereas there is a very small part of the road on the left and it is a much smoother road. We followed the road described by the uncle on the right, and entered a mountain road that calls for witnesses. Navigation denied the existence of such a road, and we found the way out by sinking into the waters, but it took us 4 hours to reach Araklı.

The distance between Santa and Araklı is also about 80 km, but if you do not choose the right road like us, the 80 km road can take 4 hours 🙂 Long story short, there is a smooth road between Santa and Trabzon, but we could not see that road 🙂

How to get to Santa Ruins from Maçka direction?

It is written on the tourism site of Gümüşhane that there is access to the Santa Ruins via the line where Karaca Cave is located. But when you ask, no one even knows about the existence of this road. Although 40 km of the road has been built, the remaining 40 km of the road is very damaged, there is a road work here. The road to KARaca Cave and Imera Monastery is well built, and the road that will connect to Santa in the continuation of this road will probably be finished in a few years.

The roads built towards Santa from both Gümüşhane and Maçka directions are within the scope of the “green road” project. I hope this road, which is planned to connect all the Black Sea Highlands, will not be the end of these beautiful highlands.

History of Santa Ruins

Although it is not known who the first settlement in Santa Ruins belonged to, 17-19. Here is the city that lived its heyday between the centuries. The city with a population of 5000 consisted of seven districts and each district had at least one church and each street had a fountain. There were schools for boys and girls. Most of the one-story stone buildings are still intact.

Greek Orthodox lived here until the population exchange period. It is thought that they settled in this region due to the rich mineral resources in the region.

After the Greeks left the region, the Turks settled here. Most of the stone houses are inhabited. Since this area is a protected area, they have to preserve the houses in accordance with their original form. We asked the uncle we met in the village, who described the forest road (!) to us, "Did the Greeks make these?" When we asked him, he gave a strange answer as if the Greeks did it, but then the Turks did it. However, a few new houses built by the Turks were not suitable for the texture of this place, so demolition was decided.

Are there any places to stay or eat close to the Santa Ruins?

Since this settlement in the valley is still little known, there is nothing like a hotel or hostel in the area where the Santa Ruins are located. The closest accommodation is in Taşköprü Plateau, which is 10 km away. If you have a tent, you can set up a tent next to a fountain among the historical houses in the village. I'm sure it would be great to wake up here.

There was a village grocery store in the village, but as most of the people living in the village go to the plateau during the summer, he was also on the plateau. For this reason, you do not have the opportunity to find food, drink or snacks in the village. Even if you are going to stay in a tent, it would be good to come with a supply.

What is the best time to go to the Santa Ruins?

The least rainy season to come to the Black Sea Region is August. The beauty of coming in June and July is that all the springs are filled with colorful flowers. If you take the risk of rain and fog and come in June-July, you can enjoy the botanical garden-like plateaus to the fullest, it wouldn't hurt to get a little wet.

Santa Ruins is an undiscovered gem! Very soon, when the green road is opened, a flock of people will come here. While it is still untouched and unharmed, this is a place where those who are really interested in history, nature and culture seek and cross paths.

You can reach the other notes of my trip to the Caucasus from the links below:

Stay tuned, stay on track 😉