The highland meadows where the region's herders take their animals in the summer u2014 the oldest and deepest culture of the region, still visible around Uzungol.

History and Culture of Uzungol, Explained

Q: What is the culture of the region around Uzungol?

The culture of the eastern Black Sea highlands u2014 the highland herding, the tea, the regional food, the music and the languages, and the working landscape.

Q: Who are the people of the eastern Black Sea?

The communities of the region u2014 including the Laz and the Hemshin u2014 with their own languages, music, and traditions, shaped by the mountains that isolated the valleys.

Q: Is Uzungol a modern village?

Yes u2014 the valley's tourism is a late 20th-century development, and the modern village grew around the lake's fame, on top of the region's older working culture.

By All Over InformationUpdated August 10, 20267 min read

Uzungol looks like a landscape without a history — a lake in a green valley, the way it might have been for a thousand years. But the valley has a real story, and it is the story of the eastern Black Sea itself: a land shaped by its geography, its hardworking people, and its position at the meeting of empires and cultures. The lake itself was made by a landslide that dammed the stream — a natural event that created the landscape the world now knows. Around it, the region’s life was built by the people of the Black Sea highlands: the herders of the summer meadows, the farmers of the valleys, the tea growers of the coast, and the communities that kept their language and their ways through the centuries of empires. This guide unpacks the history and culture of Uzungol and the eastern Black Sea: how the valley was made, who lived here, and how the culture visible around the lake today continues a long and distinctive story.

The Making of the Landscape: The Lake and the Landslide

Uzungol’s history begins with a natural event. The lake was formed when a landslide dammed the Haldizen stream, creating the long body of water that gives the valley its name — “long lake.” The exact date is uncertain, but the lake is relatively recent in geological terms, and its creation transformed the valley: the stream backed up into a still expanse of water, the slopes around it settled into the forested landscape of today, and the valley became the distinctive place it is.

The landslide’s gift was the landscape itself — the long lake, the mountains, the green — and the valley’s entire modern story follows from it. The lake made the place; the beauty of the lake made it famous; and the fame brought the village and its visitors. The natural history is the foundation of everything else.

1998 satellite picture of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea Region in Uzungol, Turkey — 1998 satellite picture of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea Region — photo by NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The People of the High Country

The human history of the region around Uzungol is the history of the eastern Black Sea highlands, and it is ancient and distinctive. The Black Sea mountains have been home to settled communities for thousands of years — a land of steep valleys, hard farming, and a people known for their independence and their hard work. The region’s languages and traditions carry deep roots: the Laz and the Hemshin and the other communities of the Black Sea have their own languages, their own music, and their own ways, shaped by the mountains that isolated the valleys from each other and from the rest of the world.

For the villages around the lake, life was built on the seasonal rhythm of the high country: the winter in the valley villages, the summer on the high meadows (yayla), where the herders took their animals to the summer pastures and made the cheese and the butter of the mountains. This transhumance — the annual movement between the low and the high — is the oldest and deepest culture of the region, and it still shapes the highland life visible around Uzungol today.

A traditional house from the Black Sea region in Turkey in Uzungol, Turkey — A traditional house from the Black Sea region in Turkey — photo by Serragok, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Empires and the Crossing of Cultures

The eastern Black Sea has been a crossroads of empires and cultures for most of its recorded history. The ancient world knew the region’s coast — the Greeks founded colonies along it, and the mountains beyond were the lands of the Colchians and the peoples of the eastern Black Sea, famous in Greek myth as the land of the Golden Fleece. The Romans, the Byzantines, and then the great medieval empires — the Seljuks, the Ottomans — each held the region in turn, and the coast and the valleys absorbed the influences.

For the high country around Uzungol, the empires mattered less than the geography. The steep valleys kept the communities relatively self-contained, and the region’s own culture — its languages, its music, its food, its seasonal life — survived the centuries of imperial rule. The mosque at the lake’s edge is the visible sign of the region’s Ottoman and Islamic centuries, but the culture around it is the older culture of the Black Sea highlands.

Traditional fried anchovies from the Black Sea region in Turkey in Uzungol, Turkey — Traditional fried anchovies from the Black Sea region in Turkey — photo by Serragok, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Tea and the Modern Economy

The modern history of the region is the story of its agriculture, and above all of tea. In the 20th century, the Turkish state promoted tea cultivation along the Black Sea coast, and the region’s hills were carpeted with the low green bushes that now define the coastal landscape. The tea economy transformed the region — the gardens, the factories, and the daily ritual of the region’s famous drink — and it became the eastern Black Sea’s signature industry.

Around the tea, the region’s other agriculture continued: the hazelnuts of the hills (Turkey’s great hazelnut country), the corn, the livestock, and the highland herding. And in the late 20th century, tourism joined the economy — the beauty of Uzungol drew visitors, the valley grew into the famous destination it is today, and the village’s life expanded around the lake. The modern Uzungol is the meeting of the old high-country culture and the new tourism economy, and both are visible around the lake.

Turkey Black Sea region-ka in Uzungol, Turkey — Turkey Black Sea region-ka — photo by IrakliGuna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Culture of Uzungol Today

The living culture of the valley and the region is a fusion of the layers:

The highland life. The yayla meadows, the herders, and the seasonal rhythm are the oldest and deepest culture of the region, and the highlands around the lake still live it.
The tea culture. The region’s great drink — grown, drunk, and served endlessly — is the daily culture of the eastern Black Sea, and the çay is the universal companion.
The regional food. The trout, the hamsi, the muhlama, the corn breads, and the cheese of the mountains are the region’s distinctive table, shared at the lakeside and the highland places.
The music and the language. The Black Sea’s music — the folk songs and the dance of the region — and its languages survive in the valleys, and the traveler who listens hears a culture apart.
The working landscape. The farming, the herding, and the tea-growing continue around the tourism, and the valley’s real life is the working landscape that the visitors share.
The hospitality. The region’s warmth — the tea offered, the help given, the welcome of the mountain people — is the culture that the traveler experiences first.

Visiting the History: What to Look For

A stay in Uzungol is a stay inside the region’s culture, if you know where to look:

The lake — the landscape created by the landslide, the reason the valley exists.
The mosque — the visible sign of the region’s Ottoman and Islamic centuries.
The highlands — the yayla meadows and the herders’ life, the oldest culture of the region.
The tea country — the gardens and the factories toward the coast, the region’s signature modern industry.
The food — the trout, the hamsi, the muhlama, and the çay, the region’s distinctive table.
The music and the people — the Black Sea’s songs and its people, the living culture of the high country.

The Takeaway

Uzungol’s history is the story of a landscape and a people: a lake made by a landslide, a valley settled by the hardworking people of the Black Sea highlands, and a region whose culture — the herding, the tea, the food, the music — survived the centuries of empires and still lives around the lake today. The mosque at the water’s edge, the highlands above, and the çay on every table are all part of the same long story. To stay in Uzungol is to see the famous landscape with the history beneath it — and to understand why this small valley, and the people who made it their home, are so distinctive.

Frequently asked questions

What is the history of Uzungol?

The lake was formed by a landslide that dammed the Haldizen stream, and the valley around it has been shaped by the ancient, distinctive culture of the eastern Black Sea highlands — the herding, the farming, and the seasonal life that continues today.

How was the Uzungol lake formed?

By a landslide that dammed the stream, creating the long body of water that gives the valley its name.

What is the culture of the region around Uzungol?

The culture of the eastern Black Sea highlands — the highland herding, the tea, the regional food, the music and the languages, and the working landscape.

Who are the people of the eastern Black Sea?

The communities of the region — including the Laz and the Hemshin — with their own languages, music, and traditions, shaped by the mountains that isolated the valleys.

What is the yayla?

The highland meadows where the region’s herders take their animals in the summer — the oldest and deepest culture of the region, still visible around Uzungol.

Is Uzungol a modern village?

Yes — the valley’s tourism is a late 20th-century development, and the modern village grew around the lake’s fame, on top of the region’s older working culture.

All Over Information

The All Over Information editorial team researches and writes practical English-language guides to Turkey. Facts are checked against official and local sources before publication, prices are published as dated ranges rather than quotes, and guides are revised when things change. We accept no sponsored posts, paid placements or paid links.