Kastamonu Old Town

Kastamonu sits inland from the Black Sea below the Ilgaz range, and it kept an unusually large stock of Ottoman domestic architecture - several hundred registered timber konaks along the river and up the slopes, two and three storeys with jettied upper floors, carved eaves and shuttered windows, many still lived in. The castle on the rock above is Byzantine with Seljuk and Ottoman rebuilding and gives the view over the roofs. Around the centre are the Nasrullah mosque and its bridges, the İsmail Bey complex, the Seljuk-era Atabey mosque, a covered bazaar and several restored mansions open as museums, including one showing the town's traditional life and another the local ethnography. The province is heavily forested - Kastamonu is a timber region - and the Küre mountains, Ilgaz and the canyons at Pınarbaşı are within reach. It is a conservative provincial town, quiet and cheap, and it sees very few foreign visitors.

What to look for

• The timber konaks - hundreds of Ottoman houses in the streets.
• The castle - the Byzantine fortress on the rock above.
• The mosque complexes - Nasrullah, İsmail Bey and Atabey.
• The mansion museums - restored interiors open to visitors.

When to go

May to June and September to November. Winters are long, cold and snowy this far north and inland; summer is mild compared with the rest of Turkey.

What to expect

Many konaks are private and in varying repair - this is a walk past facades. Signage in English is limited. Kastamonu is three hours from Ankara with modest visitor facilities.

Nearby

Ilgaz Mountain and the Küre Mountains national parks are close; Valla and Horma canyons are at Pınarbaşı.