FOUR SEASONS AKÇAKOCA

Akçakoca is a district of Düzce  located in the Western Blacksea Region, and it's surface area is 463km². It’s situated between two metropolis, İstanbul and Ankara, and it takes only 2,5 hours to go there by land travelling.

The Greek historians claims that the tribe of Greek called KOKONAS, founded the city of “Dia” settling in today’s Akçakoca. The name of the city was called “Dia” which meant bright because  the coastline was covered with  white rocks and cliffs.Then the name of the city was called “Diapolis” being added “poly” which means city after the region was protected by the Byzantine. The region remained in the frontiers of  Hittite,  Phrygia,  Roman Empire, Byzantine and the Seljuks respectively.

The town was started to be known as Akçaşehir in 1324 after it was added to the Ottoman domain by Akçakoca Bey, one of the commanders of Osman Bey. In 1943, the name was changed as Akçakoca which was the name of Akçakoca Bey, the conqueror of the region. Evliya Çelebi came to this sweet town and made some praises related to the town in his travel book. The statues of the conqueror of the region, Akçakoca Bey, and  of other commanders are worth seeing in the area of open air museum in the centre of the town. Akçakoca, which was a district of Bolu untill the huge eartquake in 1999, was bounded to province Düzce in December 9, 1999. The Turks of Manav, the immigrants of Tatar, Circassian, Abaza, Laz, Georgian, Sürmene and East Black Sea people live in our town intensively.

Livestock has not developed much because there are not wide meadows in the region. It is just for the basic needs of the town people. Along with the corn production, there is also hazelnut production which supplys the national economy in the ratio of  %25-30  as a result of the migrants from the East Black Sea region.

In Akçakoca, people’s main source of income is fishing, ship building, chicken farming, the production of cultivated mushroom and kiwi fruit as means of living. What’s more, there are iron and steel industry of Kdz. Ereğli, fabrics producing steel tube as related industry and saw mill. As a result of petrol exploration in our sea,  wide natural gas reserves have been found and big contributions has been made to the economy of Turkey. Petrol exploration is being carried out by the collaboration of (TPAO)  natural gas production instution and an American Firm.

The chesnut juice which is produced in the forests of the town ranks the third in the world and is known to be able to cure-all illneses.

When you have a chance to come Akçakoca, do not leave without tasting sweet-smelling strawberrys of the region. We recommend you to taste the vegetables and fruits special to our region dropping by the bazaar of village people on Tuesdays.

When you come here, you have a chance to taste the seafood of the region, the meals consisting chicken meat and mushrooms, mancarlı pide and the dessert of melengüççeği which are special to the region.

The town people live in peace in spite of the different ethnic origins and traditions and customs. This way of living shows that there is a great capasity of cultural exchanges and tourism is the major business in Akçakoca. In the wedding ceremonies of the region, traditional clothes which are special to different ethnic origins are dressed and people sing folk-songs accompanied by harmonica, accordion, fiddle and banjo. Furthermore, people play çiftetelli, üçayak, abhaz and Çerkez which are the regional plays of the town people.
Each year, award-winning oil wrestling is organised in the village of Balatlı, in Akçakoca.

Hazelnut has great importance on the way of living of the town people. It has such an effect on the life of the town people that  the cocoon of hazelnut is the symbol of the town and the festival is held on the hazelnut. Along with the hazelnut, Akçakoca led the movement of  tourism in 1950’s being the closest area to the sea  from the Ankara. Afterwards, Akçakoca became  the primary holiday spot for  the foreign missions in Ankara. In those years, the houses of town people were opened to the guests to supply the accomodation, as a result, operating pension in the houses became commanplace.

Along with the operating pension in the houses, the tourism of camping and caravanning increased in  1970’s with the effect of the movement of Hippies and thousands of tourists visited our town, therefore, the town built up a world-wide  reputation. Akçakoca lost its importance, especially in the years of 1980’s, in the tourism field as a result of the decrease in the highway communication after the Yugoslavia civil war. But it’s still a peaceful tourism centre of the Black Sea Region for the ones who look for a clean sea and natural surroundings for four season.

Akçakoca is a holiday of paradise in a lovely natural setting. The coast is lined with magnificent beaches reaching to the clear blue waters, and surrounded by chesnut trees and laurels. The region is bathed in sunshine for three hındreds days of the year and is thus perfect for a lazy holiday of sunning and swimming, or for sporting activities such as rafting, windsurfing, sailing, hunting and walking in nature. The region around Akçakoca offers sights of astonishing natural beauty as well as awesome historical remains. Near the town are the remains of  a Genoese castle, set in the middle of the hazelnut groves. The ancient city of Konuralp and Roman theater, Lake Abant, caves of entrance to hell in Kdz. Ereğli and Yedigöller ( 7 Lakes ) National Park, which are situated around Akçakoca, are waiting for the visitors who look for historical beauties as well.

Akçakoca, one of the most important holiday centers of Turkey, set in such natural and historical beauty, is the ideal choice for a holiday. We are waiting for you:

COME, SEE AND EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE OF AKÇAKOCA.