The history of the antique Parthenios city (Παρθένιος in Greek), or Parthenia,[3] dates back to 1200 BC, when its area was inhabited by the Kaskian tribe.

[6] Main sights include the castle, two churches, bedesten, the Kuşkayası Road Monument and İnziva (seclusion) Cave in the city center.

Sections of the ancient city like the forum, the council palace, the road of honor, the theatre, the acropolis, and a necropolis are now below the ground.

The wooden Bartın houses display the architectural characteristics of the art movements after the Tanzimat Fermanı (Reforms Decree).

For a long time, Bartın city center was considered to only have an oceanic climate (Cfb), with its warmest month being well below the 22 °C (72 °F) threshold, yet in recent decades climate change and global warming has been contributing to its classification slowly turning humid subtropical (Cfa) and therefore the city center is currently classified as borderline oceanic-humid subtropical.