Nineteenth Century and the Trabzon Port: The Story of a Rise and Decline

The trade volume of the Trabzon port during the nineteenth century followed first a rising then a decreasing pattern. The trade agreements that liberalized the economic structure of the Ottoman Empire and the involvement of steam ships in international transport increased the trade volume in Trabzon just as in other Ottoman ports of the period. Provisioning the allied forces during the Crimean War also contributed to the increase in the trade volume of the port, and Trabzon lived its golden age during the mid-century. However, the neglect of the Ottoman government in providing the port with the transportation infrastructure in conformity with the importance of its trade volume, the railway construction of Russia in the Caucasus and the more rapid rise of the neighboring Samsun port during the second half of the century, caused the retreat of the Trabzon port trade.