Sinope has been often mentioned as an opulent city by the writers of the Antiquity, and its remains have been described with enthusiasm by the travellers of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th c. Although, the stamps on amphorae and tiles have been identified and studied by the Russian scholar Grakov in 1929, it is only between 1951 and 1953 that the late Professor Dr. Ekrem Arkurgal excavated in the city. Sparkled in different spots of the town, the excavations have brought to light the temple of Serapis, as well as a part of the necropolis of the classical and archaic periods. A Bronze Age höyük has also been investigated in Demirci, 15 kilometres South of Sinope.

After a long interruption, excavations have been resumed in the 1990s thanks to the French initiative to explore the workshops of amphorae. Excavations have begun in 1994, bringing to light in the peninsula workshops of amphorae of the Hellenistic period which were stamping their products, and in Demirci bay a workshop of the Roman period.

During the same decade, other teams have been implanted in Sinope : an English team who has excavated in Çiftlik, South of Sinope, an important church paved with a mosaique, and two American teams who were complementary to each other – one has proceed to a inland survey in the chora of Sinope, completed by a digging, and another one to an underwater survey which has investigated several wrecks in deep waters. During the same time, Turkish teams were proceeding to other surveys in the area and the Archaeological Museum of Sinope to rescue excavations, bringing to light for example mosaiques or a painted tomb. These works have brought some new informations about Sinope and the settlements in its chora since the Prehistorical period until the Byzantine period, as well as about its economy and its trade.

Finally, doctorate students and researchers from Turkey, Europe, USA and from Black Sea countries, have dedicated their work, or a part of their work, to Sinope.

In 2009, fifteen years will have passed since the archaeological exploration of Sinope has been resumed. The city has become a centre of international interest and the studies have renewed our knowledge of the city. Time has come now to gather and discuss all these new data during an international Symposium. It will be held from the 7th to the 9th of May 2009 in Sinope itself. Proceedings will be published, and will be, without doubt, a valuable reference book, first of its type, about Sinope.

We will be honoured if you could participate to our meeting by presenting a paper or a poster. The working languages will be in English and French. You will be our guest in Sinope.

We are looking forward to receive you and work with you.

With our best regards,

The website of the Symposium of Sinope is now opened: www.sinope.bilkent.edu.tr. You can consult it in French/English and Turkish. Please let us know if you find any mistake concerning your personal data. 

As you will see in the programme, the time given to each speaker is 20 minutes: 15 minutes for the communication, 5 minutes for the discussion. PowerPoint will be used.

Concerning your trip to Sinop, Turkish Airlines flies from Istanbul to Sinop on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday departing at 12:35 PM, arriving at 14:00 PM (this schedule is valid until the 28th of March; it has to be checked again for the summer season). Or you can choose to take the bus: several companies serve the Istanbul-Sinop and Ankara-Sinop routes. Among them, Sinop Birlik is recommended. The departure is at 20:30 PM from the Otogar in Istanbul (11 to 12 hours for the  trip) and at 22:00 PM from the otogar (AŞTİ) in Ankara  (9 to 10 hours). Another possibility is to fly to Samsun (there are several flights from each city every day) and then take a bus to Sinop (3 hours).

In order for us to receive you in Sinop, please let us know your itinerary. If you choose to take the Sinop Birlik bus, we can make the reservation for you, but let us know two weeks before.

We remain at your disposal if you need any other information.

We are looking forward to see you in Sinop.

We would like to give you some new information in order to help you organize your trip, since some changes in the bus and plane schedules have occurred.
Turkish Airlines:
- Istanbul – Sinop: departure at 10:00 – arrival at 11:20
- Sinop – Istanbul: departure at 12:05 – arrival at 13:30.
There is a plane on the 6th of May, but not on the 10th (it is not a daily flight).

Bus (Sinop Birlik):
- Istanbul – Sinop: departure at 19:30 – arrival at 7:00
- Sinop – Istanbul: departure at 19:00 – arrival at 7:00
- Ankara – Sinop: departure at 22:00 – arrival at 6:30
- Sinop – Ankara: departure at 22:30 – arrival at 6:30

We would be happy to reserve your bus ticket, with the bus company “Sinop Birlik.” Please inform us as soon as possible if you would like us to do this.

One more item of practical information: there is an underground line (“metro”) from the Istanbul Atatürk airport to the bus terminal.

The Symposium will end on Saturday late afternoon, in time for you to take the 19:00 bus to Istanbul, should you so wish.

In order for us to welcome you in Sinop when you arrive, please let us know your itinerary.

See you soon in Sinop,