Deep in a mountain in the Pontic Alps, North-East Turkey, there's a monastery reminiscent of Tolkien's Minas Tirith; the seven-walled fortress city built on the spur of a mountain. Nestled in a steep cliff at an altitude of about 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) and facing a beautiful wooded mountain valley is Panayia Soumela Greek Orthodox monastery, dedicated to Virgin Mary. This is the heartland of the Pontic Greeks. And my journey today begun from a church with the same name, near my home town of Veria, in Northern Greece, 1800 Km away from Trabzon, deep in a forested mountain on a similar altitude...

Hello!

The Pontic Greeks lived in the region of northern Turkey roughly in the areas of Trabzon, Samsun and Gerishun, Sinop for about 2 millennia before their forced expulsion and genocide.

But their food and culture remains still alive luckily for us, and even their unique Greek language which traces its lineage to ancient Greek!

So what did they eat? How they cooked their foods? And how does their cuisine differ from other Greeks, and the similarities with other Black Sea nations around...

Some spectacular videos of Panagia Soumela Monastery and countryside in Trabzon region mountains:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQb3UJVvbmM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynLcqCxCh0s

For traditional Pontic produce in Greece today go to Thessaloniki and find this guy:

http://ragian.gr/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=4

Google map link for the Thessaloniki shop:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/QJGjFiEBW4YN7W369

The farm were they age cheeses in caves, smoke their own meats and produce their pasta:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/yVQHg9HVdGDcEyWdA

More information about history and culture of Pontic Greeks:

https://pontosworld.com/index.php

And the Guardian article that inspired me to do this episode today:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/03/endangered-greek-dialect-living-bridge-ancient-world-romeyka

With music from Pavlos Kapralos

Enjoy!

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