Bayburt (Armenian: Բայբերդ, romanized: Bayberd)[2] is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River.

There are also ancient historical sites such as the Çatalçeşme Underground Complex and natural wonders like the Sirakayalar Waterfall in the other parts of the province.

The name of the town was formerly written in Ottoman Turkish as بايبورد (Bayburd)[5] and in English as Baiburt.

Movses asserts that the city's ancient name was Smpadapert, in reference to the Smbat I, founder of the Bagratuni dynasty.

Bayburt was a part of Hayasa-Azzi, then was subsequently settled or conquered by the Cimmerians in the 8th century BC, the Medes in the 7th century BC, then the Achaemenid Empire, Yervandid Armenia, Pontus, Greater Armenia, Rome, the Byzantines, the Bagratid Armenian Kingdom, the Seljuk Turks, the Aq Qoyunlu, Safavid Persia, and then the Ottoman Turks.

When Erzurum was devastated in the early 16th century, Bayburt served for a time as the de facto capital of the province.

[15] Bayburt straddles the Çoruh amid an open and fertile plateau on the route between Trabzon and Erzurum.

The city has 535.780 m2 (5,767.09 sq ft) of nursery areas, where young plants are raised for the forests of Bayburt.

It was completely rebuilt by the Saltukid ruler Mugis-al-Din Tugrul Sah between 1200 and 1230, as attested by an inscription in the walls of the castle.

The massive size of its walls and the quality of its masonry place it amongst the finest of all the castles in Anatolia but for its destruction by the Russians[10] during the early nineteenth century.

[7] Located 45 km (28 mi) from Bayburt, the Aydıntepe underground City consists of rock-cut galleries, vaulted rooms and wider spaces excavated out of natural rock, without using any building material within 2–2.5 metres (6 ft 7 in – 8 ft 2 in) from the surface in the tuff.

[20] The Dome of Dede Korkut is approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) away from Bayburt, and is located in Masat village.

It has gained importance after has been included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO in November 2018.

[22] The Baksı Museum stands near the Black Sea, 45 km (28 mi) from Bayburt on a hilltop overlooking the Çoruh Valley.