Sinop is a city with a population of 36,734 on the isthmus of İnce Burun (İnceburun, Cape Ince), near Cape Sinope (Sinop Burnu, Boztepe Cape, Boztepe Burnu) which is situated on the most northern edge of the Turkish side of the Black Sea coast, in the ancient region of Paphlagonia, in modern-day northern Turkey. The city serves as the capital of Sinop Province.HistoryLong used as a Hittite port, which appears in Hittite sources as "Sinuwa", the city proper was re-founded as a Greek colony from the city of Miletus in the 7th century BC. Sinope flourished as the Black Sea port of a caravan route that led from the upper Euphrates valley. It issued its own coinage, founded colonies, and gave its name to a red earth pigment called sinopia, which was mined in Cappadocia for use throughout the ancient world.Sinope escaped Persian domination until the early 4th century BC. It was ruled by Scydrothemis from 301 to 280 BC. In 183 BC it was captured by Pharnaces I and became capital of the Kingdom of Pontus. The Roman general Lucullus conquered Sinope in 70 BC, and Julius Caesar established a Roman colony there, Colonia Julia Felix, in 47 BC. Mithradates Eupator was born and buried at Sinope, and it was the birthplace of Diogenes, of Diphilus, poet and actor of the New Attic comedy, of the historian Baton, and of the Christian heretic of the 2nd century AD, Marcion.
