Ordu

About Ordu

Ordu or Altınordu (Greek: Κοτύωρα) is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey and the capital of Ordu Province. The city forms the urban part of the Altınordu district, with a population of 235,096 in 2023.

Özhan Öztürk wrote that the name is allegedly composed of an old Laz language word for pottery ('Koto', similar to Mingrelian 'Koto', Georgian 'Kotani' and Laz 'Katana') and a common Kartvelian suffix indicating belonging ('Uri'). In Zan (aka Colchian) Kotyora means a place where pottery is made. This point is supported with several other Kartvelian place names existing in the region as well as the region itself historically being known as Djanik (Djani being another name for Laz).

Ancient Greek and Roman sources called the city Cotyora or Kotyora or Cotyorum (Ancient Greek: Κοτύωρα).

The contemporary name of Ordu meaning 'army camp' in Ottoman Turkish was adopted during the Ottoman Empire because of an army outpost being located near the present day city.

In the 8th century BC, Cotyora (Κοτύωρα) was founded by the Miletians as one of a string of colonies along the Black Sea coast. The town lay on a bay that shared...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.