We drove slowly through the Pontic Mountains to reach the Black Sea coast. We arrived late in the busy town of Ünye, and we couldn’t find any suitable parking place near the center. It was getting dark, so we decided to overnight at Shell. The history of Ünye goes back to the Hittite period in the 15th century BC, followed by the Kashkas, Scythians, Milesians, Persians, Pontus, and Ancient Roman/Byzantine eras. During Greco-Roman times, it was called Oenoe and was a port town of Pontus, at the mouth of the river Genius. In the year 1806, the Laz attacked Ünye. This led to the town being evacuated under the guidance of Bishop Meletios and resetting in Sinope. The following day we took a taxi to the center (🚕 50 TRY) and realized that city is pretty uninteresting. We took a quick breakfast on the beach promenade and hit the road.
Parking location – Ünye: 41.114974N 37.271326E (🚻 – 24/7 at Shell)