Bayburt

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Bayburt is overshadowed by an unfeasibly large citadel.

At the start of the Great Kaçkar Expedition ^[2], I drove from Erzurum to Trabzon via Bayburt and Gümüşhane.

I was concentrating on the endless twisting curves of the roads so I never took photos in Bayburt until a return visit in 2015. However, I met a lot of Bayburtlu at a cirit tournament in Okmeydanı.

Cirit is a sport that has been played in Turkey since about the 11th century when mounted nomadic tribes began to enter the area. A member of one team rides his horse towards the other team. He challenges a man by calling his name and hurling his javelin at him. The player who has been challenged now pursues the challenger with the aim of running him down and hitting him with his javelin. A feature of the sport is the ability to ride a horse with speed and accuracy whilst hanging from the side in order to present a smaller target for incoming javelins.

These photos were taken during a match between teams from Bayburt and Erzurum.

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A player shows his pleasure at being challenged.

^[4]

This man was the refreshment tent.

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A challenger throws his javelin.

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A player begins his response to a challenge.