Trabzon had a wealthy merchant class during the late Ottoman period , and the local Christian minority had a substantial influence in terms of culture , economy and politics . A number of European consulates were opened in the city due to its importance in regional trade and commerce . In the first half of the 19th century Trabzon even became the main port for Persian exports . However , the opening of the Suez Canal greatly diminished the international trading position of the city . In the last decades of the 19th century the city saw some demographic changes . Many residents from the wider region ( mostly Christians , but also some Jews and Greek or Turkish speaking Muslims ) started to migrate to the Crimea and southern Ukraine , in search for farmland or employment in one of the booming cities along the northern and eastern coasts of the Black Sea . Among these migrants were the grandparents of Bob Dylan and Greek politicians and arists . At the same time , thousands of Muslim refugees from the Caucasus arrived in the city , especially after 1864 , in what is known as the Circassian genocide
Circassian genocide
Circassian genocide
Trabzon