Tokat Webcam – Erbaa Rooftops and the Kelkit Valley

The Tokat Webcam looks north over Erbaa, a district town in Tokat Province, from the hillside grounds of the Seyrantepe family tea garden on the south edge of town. Pines and leafy shrubs fill the bottom of the frame. Past them, red-tiled roofs and apartment blocks spread across the middle distance, then give way to the flat farmland of the Erbaa plain and a long line of ridges beyond it. This is not the provincial capital: Tokat city lies about 39 kilometers (24 miles) to the south, behind the camera. The view is fixed, so what changes is the sky: cloud can hide the far ridges completely, and on clear days they stand sharp above the plain.

About Erbaa and the Seyrantepe View

Erbaa sits on the left bank of the Kelkit River, at the edge of the plain that carries its name. The name means “four” in Arabic and recalls four settlements that were once counted together, even for tax purposes: Erek, Karayaka, Sonusa (today Ulukoy) and Tasabat, which split off as the separate district of Tasova in 1944. Erbaa has been a district in its own right since 1872. In 2024 the district had 101,568 residents, 73,373 of them in the town.

People have lived on this plain for a very long time. Horoztepe, an archaeological mound about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) east-southeast of the town, produced a bronze figure of a mother nursing a child, dated to around 2400 to 2200 BC and now kept in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. In antiquity the plain was Phanaroia, which the geographer Strabo called the finest part of Pontus. Mithridates VI of Pontus founded a city here named Eupatoria, and the Roman general Pompey later renamed it Magnopolis.

The town in the frame is much younger than its history. Erbaa lies on the North Anatolian Fault, and the earthquake of 20 December 1942 destroyed 2,295 houses, 127 shops and 4 hotels and killed 534 people. The town was moved to a new site in 1944.

The camera is run by the Kenan Kesmez YouTube channel, which also streams from villages elsewhere in the Erbaa district, and the tea garden hosts it. From the Ismetpasa neighborhood it points down the slope, across the town center and out over the plain. A lattice mast rises at the right edge of the picture.

Weather and Climate in Erbaa

The plain lies at about 250 meters (820 feet), low for inland Turkey, and the valley has mild winters and hot summers. Averages for 2015 to 2024 put January afternoons at about 9 C (48 F), with nights hovering just above freezing at around 1 C (33 F). December and February are a little warmer, near 12 C (54 F) by day. Spring warms quickly: April afternoons reach about 20 C (68 F) and May about 24 C (75 F), while the wheat and sugar beet on the plain are growing.

July and August are the hot months, with afternoons of 30 to 31 C (86 to 88 F) and warm nights near 19 to 20 C (66 to 68 F), and hot spells can reach 36 to 39 C (97 to 102 F). Autumn cools gently, from about 28 C (82 F) in September to 22 C (72 F) in October and 17 C (63 F) in November. Most of the rain falls between autumn and late spring, and July to September are the driest stretch of the year. The wetter months are when cloud is most likely to settle on the ridges across the plain.

Things to Do Near Erbaa

The camera’s own host is the easiest stop. The Seyrantepe tea garden serves samovar tea to families on the hillside and is known locally for its night view over the town. Down at the edge of town, the Horoztepe mound is where the Bronze Age finds were dug up. About 11 kilometers (7 miles) west, in the village of Akca, the Silahtar Omer Pasa Mosque is built of wood and cut stone without a single nail, and it is counted among the best preserved wooden mosques in Anatolia.

Bogazkesen Castle and its bridge are traced by local sources to the reign of Mithridates VI, and the Ravakbaba Tomb and Mosque is another of the district’s historic sites. Erbaa is also known across Turkey for its grape leaves, which are sold under the town’s name. Every July the International Traditional and Cultural Erbaa Yaprak Festival celebrates them with visiting chefs, food events and concerts. The plain itself is working farmland, and it produces about a quarter of the crop value of the whole of Tokat Province, from wheat and barley to tobacco, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

More cameras from towns and villages in Turkey’s Black Sea Region:

• Rize Webcam
• Giresun Webcam
• Okcu Village Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

What can you see on the Tokat Webcam?

A fixed view north from the Seyrantepe tea garden, on the hillside at the south edge of Erbaa. Pines and shrubs fill the foreground, the town’s rooftops spread across the middle, and the flat Erbaa plain and the ridges beyond it close the view. A lattice mast stands on the right.

Does the Tokat Webcam show Tokat city?

No. The camera is in Erbaa, a separate district town in Tokat Province, about 39 kilometers (24 miles) north of Tokat city in a straight line. It faces north, away from the provincial capital, so none of Tokat city is in view.

Where is Erbaa located?

Erbaa is in Tokat Province, in Turkey’s Black Sea Region. The town stands on the left bank of the Kelkit River, on the southern edge of the Erbaa plain, with the hills where the camera is mounted rising behind it.

What is the weather like in Erbaa?

Mild in winter and hot in summer, with January afternoons near 9 C (48 F) and July and August afternoons at 30 to 31 C (86 to 88 F). The camera shows the sky over the town as it is now, the quickest check for cloud or rain.

Where is the Erbaa plain?

It is the flat valley floor in front of the camera, north of the town. The plain runs about 32 kilometers (20 miles) from Tepekisla village in the east, where the Kelkit River enters it, to Kale village in the west, and it is about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) wide. The Kelkit and the Tozanli meet on the plain and continue together as the Yesilirmak to the Black Sea.

When is the Erbaa Yaprak Festival?

It is held every July. The festival celebrates the grape leaves Erbaa is known for, and its program brings in chefs, cooking and tasting events, and concerts.

What is the population of Erbaa?

Erbaa district had 101,568 residents in 2024. Of those, 73,373 lived in the town itself and the rest in the district’s villages.

Source: Kenan Kesmez