The story of Giresun Island

Only two islands in the Black Sea belong to Turkey: one is Kefken, the other is Giresun Island, lying 1.6 km offshore. On its 40,000 square metres grow 71 native plant species, led by Mediterranean laurel and false acacia, while cormorants and gulls breed here and migrating birds stop to rest. Legend says the Amazon queens built a temple to Ares, god of war, on the island.

The Roman scholar Pliny wrote that birds here were said to fight strangers by beating their wings, and the Argonautica epic names the island as a stop on the Argonauts' voyage. Look for the ruins of walls, a watchtower, a monastery and two large terracotta wine jars. At the eastern tip stands the Hamza Stone, a wishing stone resting on three legs that represents the mother goddess Cybele.

Every year on 20 May, during the Aksu Festival, people pass beneath it and then circle the island by boat.