Espiye

Espiye
Town
The village of Cibril
Espiye
Coordinates: 40°57′N 38°44′E / 40.950°N 38.733°E / 40.950; 38.733Coordinates: 40°57′N 38°44′E / 40.950°N 38.733°E / 40.950; 38.733
Country	Turkey
Region	Black Sea
Province	Giresun
Government
• Mayor	Mustafa Karadere (AKP)
Area
• District	160.85 km2 (62.10 sq mi)
Elevation	119- 2,850 m (390-9,350 ft)
Population (2012)
• Urban	17,413
• District	31,810
• District density	200/km2 (510/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	28600
Area code(s)	(+90) 454
Licence plate	28
Climate	Cfa
Website	Espiye Municipality

Espiye is a town and a district of Giresun Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey.

"Espiye" and its earlier spelling, "Esbüyeli", are the Turkish names for the district. Espiye is thought to be formed from two parts: "Esb", a Persian word meaning "horse" and the Turkish "-yeli" and "-yelü" suffix meaning "from" or "of", or possibly the suffix "yalı", a radix or generic word meaning "shore" or "". So, Esbüyeli means "the land of horses" or "stables" or, alternatively, "the stables on the waterside".

There is very limited information about the ancient history of Espiye, but slightly more of the larger nearby town of Tirebolu.

The area was part of the Roman Empire and its successors, the Byzantine Empire and the Empire of Trebizond. Copper was mined here in the 1st century AD, and Andoz Castle was later built on the west side of the modern day town, a sister castle of Tripolis (modern day Tirebolu), and Bedrama (or Bedrum) in the Harşit valley to the east of Espiye. However, the castle was too small to be the heart of a civil settlement. Measuring only 90 feet by 20 feet, it was most likely used as a watchtower for advance warning of invading ships on the Black Sea.

In the Ottoman Land Registry of 1515, "Esbüyeli" has been defined as "Çepni Eli" ("Chepni Province" or "Chepni's Homeland") and registered to Mustafa Bey I, son of Eshter Bey. The Chepni were a branch of the Oghuz Turks which between the 12th and 16th centuries settled in Kürtün in the mountains to the south of Espiye. The Chepni had a powerful cavalry of ten thousand horses, and therefore captured many districts on the Black Sea coast too, establishing the Anatolian beylik of Haci Emirli in Mesudiye to the west of Giresun.