The Turkish province of Sivas has a beautiful and varied landscape of volcanic mountains intersected by deep gorges, high plateaus, fertile plains, river valleys shaded by poplars, and steppe with oak and juniper woods. In mediaeval times the Seljuk sultans hunted around the lakes of Hafik and Tödürge. For long centuries the province has been an important region for iron ore mining, cereal production and sheep farming. Sivas is famous for its Kangal dogs, huge creatures gentle with children but fierce when protecting their flocks from wolves and farms from intruders.

HUB OF ANCIENT ROADS
The ancient King’s Road, Silk Road and Spice Road, and military roads linking Istanbul to Caucasia and the Black Sea coast all passed through Sivas. Excavations of the fort at Topraktepe beside the Mismil River, a tributary of the Kizilirmak, have shown that there was a Hittite settlement here in the 2nd millennium BC.