Fall of Sinope

Timeline

1. 1461Sinope · Black Sea coastSinope sits on a peninsula on the southern Black Sea coast, a natural harbor commanding sea lanes, long contested by Byzantine, Seljuk, and Jalayrid powers. In his campaigns integrating northeastern Anatolia, Mehmed II made the capture of Sinope a key step toward controlling Black Sea trade and supporting the Trebizond offensive.
2. 1461Port of Sinope · Black Sea coastOttoman forces besieged Sinope; the garrison could not long withstand the sultan's pressure by land and sea. After the city fell, the Ottomans developed Sinope into a major home port of the Black Sea fleet, strengthening strategic deterrence toward Trebizond, the Crimean Khanate, and Genoese colonies.