Why visit Oltu
Townapedia lists 1 museum or landmark in and around town.
Weather in Oltu
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About Oltu
Oltu (Georgian: ოლთისი, romanized: oltisi; Ottoman Turkish: اولتی, romanized: Olti) is a municipality and district of Erzurum Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,441 km2 (556 sq mi), and its population is 30,075 (2022). The mayor is Adem Çelebi, from the AKP.
From the Wikipedia article Oltu (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Museums and landmarks1
Churches and places of worship8
Gas and EV charging1
Schools, colleges and libraries12
History
Oltu is theorised to be the diauehian settlement of Utu, mentioned by the urartiams in the 12th-8th centuries BC
An inscription found in Oltu's castle has been dated to the 7th century A.D.(see below), but the settlement is known to have been established much earlier. The city-fortress had once belonged to the Mamikonian nakharars and later passed into the hands of the Bagratunis. Administratively, it was found within the borders of the region of Vok'aghe in the province of Tayk. The first mention of Oltu as a fortified settlement is in the 9th century when the Georgian Bagratids occupied this region. After the death of the Iberian Kuropalates David in 1000, the troops of Emperor Basil II occupied the castles and towns in the region of Tao-Tayk‛, which included Oltu. During the Byzantine–Georgian wars, after being defeated by Basil II, George I burned the castle while fleeing the area in 1021. In the following centuries, Oltu successively passed into the control of the Seljuk Turks, the Mongols and Turkmen tribes. The Ottomans conquered Olti from the Georgians in the sixteenth century.
From the History section of Oltu on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Healthcare11
Map of Oltu
33 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
Erzurum Airport (ERZ) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 95 km away.
- Koçkaya 16 km south, about 16 min by car
- Narman 24 km southwest, about 24 min by car
- Ayvalı 25 km north, about 25 min by car
- Şenkaya 30 km east, about 30 min by car
- Pamukçular 30 km northwest, about 30 min by car
- Olur 34 km north, about 34 min by car
- Uzundere 38 km west, about 38 min by car
- Tortum 47 km southwest, about 47 min by car
- Yusufeli 49 km northwest, about 49 min by car
- Artvin 73 km north, about 1 h 15 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Local news
Headlines from INDB.
Reviews, tips and questions
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Sources and licences
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, coordinates, regions and time zone
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- Oltu sülün kaya -köroğlu ormanları - panoramio, Halis DURAN, CC BY-SA 3.0
Page built November 8, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us or suggest a place.