Ordu is a city in the Central Karadeniz region on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, with a population of 235,000 in 2023.

Understand

This city in ancient times was Kotyora (Κοτύωρα), indicating pottery manufacture. It was a small port of little strategic value in an agricultural region, held by several empires until taken by the Ottomans in 1461. They built an army base 10 km inland - "Ordu" means army base and in 1869 this became the name of the entire city. Half the population were Greek or Armenian until the massacres and deportations of the early 20th century.

In 2021 the city central district was renamed Altınordu, but no-one paid much heed.

Get in

Ordu stands on the coastal highway D010, 150 km east of Samsun and 180 km west of Trabzon.

1 Ordu-Giresun Airport (OGU  ^IATA) has flights every couple of hours from Istanbul (both IST ^IATA and SAW ^IATA), and once a day from Ankara and Izmir. The airport is clean and adequate for its limited throughput, with the usual facilities including car hire. It's 18 km east of Ordu along the highway to Giresun, built on reclaimed land into the Black Sea. Havas shuttle bus runs downtown. You could also pick up a dolmuş on the nearby highway.

Samsun-Çarşamba Airport (SZF ^IATA), 132 km west, has more domestic flights.

Buses from Istanbul run every couple of hours and take 13 hours via Gebze and Samsun; those from Ankara take 9 hours. Most buses continue east along the coast to Trabzon (4 hours), and one per day continues to Rize and Batumi in Georgia.

Bus lines are Metro Turizm and Flixbus.

2 Ordu Bus Terminal is south edge of town, 3 km from the centre. Dolmuşes and taxis take you downtown.

Get around

Dolmuşes and taxis ply all the main streets.

See

• Old town. The traditional houses of Ordu, some of which are extremely elaborate, cascade from the hillside around the church down to the coast.
• 1 Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami) was built in 2018 in traditional style. It's only open at prayer times.
• 2 Fatih Mosque on 367th Sk is tiny but richly tiled within.
• 3 Paşaoğlu Mansion, Taş Ocak Cd 22, ☏ +90 452 223 2596. Daily 08:00-17:00. 19th century mansion, now an ethnography museum with rooms in late Ottoman style, and archaeology museum adjacent. Free. (updated Sep 2024)
• Hazelnut Museum (Fındığın Öyküsü Müzesiis) is just north on 194th Sk, open daily 08:00-17:00.
• 4 Rüsumat 4 is a replica of a small cargo ship. British-built as a trawler in 1891, she was bought by the Ottomans in 1913 as a minesweeper and coastguard vessel. After the Ottoman defeat she was seized by the nationalists and used for gun-running from Batumi to their western battlefronts. In 1921 she was spotted by the Greek Navy and shot up, but the captain beached her at Ordu, got the cargo of ammunition offloaded, and started a diversionary fire - the Greeks saw this, thought about the ammunition, and scarpered. The ship was patched up and limped back to Batumi for repair. Rüsumat 4 made another run to Samsun but on return was again spotted, and this time sunk off Giresun. There's a small historical display within the replica.
• 5 Taşbaşı Cultural Centre is in a former Greek Orthodox Church, built in 1853. It's on a terrace looking over the sea, open M-Sa 09:00-17:00.

Do

• Beaches: there's a short sandy stretch west of Rüsumat 4, then a longer strip east edge of town.
• Ordu cablecar starts from Atatürk Park on the seafront, and rides up to Boztepe by the Radisson Blu Hotel, a wooded 550 m hill with walking trails. It runs daily 09:00-23:00 and costs 400 TL return for foreigners.
• Hamams: Ordu has a dozen traditional Turkish bathhouses. Most central is Saray Hamam at Hükümet Cd 56 near the sports centre, open daily 07:00-23:30.
• Football: Orduspor played soccer in the top tier as recently as 2013, but along with 52 Orduspor are now away down in the amateur leagues. They play at Yeni Stad, a multi-sports facility east edge of town; the old 19 Eylül Stadium is derelict.

Buy

The former Greek church in Old Town

• Hazelnuts: Ordu produces about a quarter of the world's hazelnuts. Check your own country's food import rules before buying to take home.
• Carrefour is the main supermarket, at Atatürk Blv 34, open daily 08:00-22:00. Lots more small stores.

Eat

Restaurants and cafes are strung along the main road from around the Grand Mosque northwest up the beach strip to the harbour, no stand-out.

Drink

Many cafes serve alcohol.

Sleep

• 1 Ramada Plaza, Zübeyde Hanım Cd 211, ☏ +90 452 444 9452. Clean efficient chain hotel, though the aircon is a lost cause. B&B double 4000 TL. (updated Sep 2024)
• Karlibel Atlihan Hotel at Karabekýr Cd 9 has seen better days and stinks of tobacco.
• Beach strip northwest of the centre has many inexpensive hotels, but blighted by late night noise from the cafes.
• 2 Anemon Ordu Otel, Atatürk Blv 5, ☏ +90 452 213 1574. Pleasant friendly hotel by the harbour. B&B double 3000 TL. (updated Sep 2024)
• 3 Radisson Blu, Boztepe Kümevleri Mevkii 54 /1, ☏ +90 452 666 6888. Great reviews for this hilltop hotel by the cable car top station. B&B double 5000 TL. (updated Sep 2024)
• Kubaliç Hotel is on the main highway 1 km west of the airport.

Connect

Ordu and its approach highways have 4G from all Turkish carriers. As of September 2024, 5G has not rolled out in Turkey.

Go next

• Cape Jason is a headland 34 km northwest, near the straggling villages of Perşembe, Çaytepe and Aziziye. It's named for Jason, mythological leader of the Argonauts, whose pursuit of the golden fleece took him to Colchis, nowadays Georgia. A shrine to him once stood here; a Greek church was built in 1869.
• Samsun is a large modern city further west.
• Giresun the next town east along the coast is a small resort.

Routes through Ordu

Samsun ← Ünye ( S) ←

W  E

→ Giresun → Trabzon