Of, Turkey

Of is an urban municipality (belediye) in the northeastern part of the Ilçe (county) of the same name in Trabzon province and at the same time a municipality of the Büyükşehir belediyesi Trabzon (metropolitan municipality/metropolitan province of Trabzon) created in 2012. Since the territorial reform in 2013, the municipality is identical to the county in terms of area and population.

The region has high rainfall, is forested, mountainous and agricultural. The main products are tea and hazelnuts. The town of Of is located on the coastal road (E 97) between Trabzon and Rize on a plain created by the Solaklı Çayı River. The nearest small towns are Sürmene, 14 kilometers west, and İyidere, 10 kilometers east. To the south, a branch line branches off in a valley cut of the Pontic Mountains to Bayburt (90 kilometres). 4 km further east at the village of Kıyıcık, the Baltacı Deresi River flows into it.

Óphis (Greek "snake"), derived from Of, has been recorded as the name of the region and the river since the 2nd century AD. In the 17th century, the inhabitants of the place and its surroundings converted to Islam. They later had a reputation for a particularly dogmatic interpretation of religion because of their medrese.

The present small town was founded in the 19th century under the name Solaklı and later renamed. The year (1874) depicted in the town's logo is probably a reference to the granting of Belediye status.

(Until) the end of 2012, in addition to the county seat, the county consisted of the seven municipalities (Belediye) Ballıca, Bölümlü, Cumapazarı, Eskipazar, Gürpınar, Kıyıcık and Uğurlu, as well as 52 villages (Köy), which were transferred to Mahalle (districts, local parts) during the 2013 administrative reform. The mahalle are presided over by a muhtar as the chief official. At the end of 2020, an average of 643 people lived in each of the now 68 mahalle, 7,939 inhabitants in the most populous (İrfanlı).

Sports

Since the 1990s, the town and district of Of have had a football team in the form of the Ofspor football club, which has represented the region predominantly in the third highest Turkish division, today's TFF 2. Lig.

Personalities

• Faruk Atalay (* 1981), Turkish football player
• Mücahit Atalay (* 1991), football player
• Burak Ayaz (* 1993), Turkish football player
• Mehmet Ayaz (* 1982), Turkish football player
• Erdoğan Bayraktar (* 1948), Turkish politician
• Yusuf Kurtuluş (* 1986), Turkish football player
• Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu (b. 1929 or 1931), religious leader of the İsmail-Ağa community.
• Mustafa Varank (* 1976), politician
• Mehmet Yılmaz (* 1979), Turkish national football player