Bolu

Bolu is a city in Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province. The population is 131,264 (2012 census).The city has been governed by mayor Tanju Ozcan (CHP) since local elections in 2019. It was the site of Ancient Claudiopolis and has also been called Eskihisar.Bolu is on the old highway from Istanbul to Ankara, which climbs over Mount Bolu, while the new motorway passes through Mount Bolu Tunnel below the town.

The region was once part of the Hittite empire and became the kingdom of Bithynia in the 5th century BCE. At nearby Eskihisar are ruins of the ancient Bithynium, a flourishing town of Asia Minor (Anatolia) and—as birthplace of the Roman emperor Hadrian’s favourite, Antinous—recipient of many privileges during that emperor’s reign (117–138 CE). Taken by the Ottoman Turks about 1325, Bolu is the reputed home of the legendary Turkish folk hero Koroglu.The modern city is the seat of a women’s teacher-training college and a school of forestry, and its industries produce leather products.