The known history of Kastamonu begins with the Hittite Empire. These lands, which were dominated by the Phrygian and Lydian Kingdoms after the Hittites, BC. It was conquered by the Persians in the 4th century. BC4. In the 16th century, Alexander the Great added Kastamonu lands to Macedonia along with Anatolia. The Pontus Kingdom, which took over the region after Alexander, BC. It was destroyed by the Romans in the 1st century. Kastamonu, which remained within the borders of the Roman Empire for many years, With the division of the Empire in 395, it joined the Byzantine Empire like all Anatolia.

Gaslar (Gashka Turks) is the oldest branch of Sumerians known from Havali (Paflagonia) after prehistoric times. B.C. The Gases (Gashkas), who ruled between 2000-1300, constantly had political, commercial and cultural relations with the Egyptians, Syrians and Chaldeans, and sometimes fought and sometimes became friends with the Hittites. Gaslar are known as fierce and warlike people.

“Timonion” or “Tumanna” is one of the cities founded by the Gases, which today includes Kastamonu and the surrounding provinces and was called Paphlagonia (Paphlagonia) during the Roman period. Some writers on the origin of the name Kastamonu; They argued that this word was formed by the combination of the word “Gas” and the word “Timoni” or “Tumanna” (meaning the land of Gas), which is the most plausible possibility. Phonetically, it is close to today’s Kastamonu name.

According to a second view, Kastamonu was a small town when Taşköprü was the provincial center in the Roman period, and it started to develop during the Byzantine period and especially during the Kommenler lineage. In the time of this lineage, a castle was built here and it was called “Kastra Kommen”, meaning the castle of the Kommens. Although there are some who claim that this word has changed into “Kastamonu” in time, there is no document that determines this.

The first time Kastamonu fell into the hands of the Turks was in 1105 during the reign of Ahmet Gazi’s son Gümüş Tekin, at the time of the Danişmentliler. The city and its surroundings, which remained under the Danishment administration for nearly a century, passed back to the Byzantines for 15 years.

The army under the command of Şemsettin Yaman Candar, who was commissioned to seize the region for the second time by the Mongols, went to Kastamonu in 1292 and defeated Muzaffereddin Yavlak Arslan’s unit, and he himself was killed. Muzaffereddin Yavlak Arslan’s son, Mahmutbey, struggled to avenge his father and succeeded in driving Şemsettin Yaman Candar to the west from here. After the death of Şemsettin Yaman Candar, Kastamonu was recaptured by Süleyman Pasha in 1309, its lands were expanded and the “Candaroğulları Principality” was established and the shepherds ended their rule.

Kastamonu Principality, which took the name of “Isfendiyaroğulları” after İsfendiyarbey, became an important science and culture center until it came under Ottoman rule in 1460, it trained many scholars and continued this feature during the Ottoman period.

Kastamonu conquered this city with Sinop by Fatih Sultan Mehmet in 1460 and added the Candarogullari principality to the Ottoman Empire. Kastamonu provided great benefits as it was the most reliable region in terms of logistics support during the National Struggle. Food, clothing, money, ammunition and weapons were transported to Ankara, especially via İnebolu-Kastamonu.

After the proclamation of the Republic, the Dress and Hat Revolution, carried out by the Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Kastamonu between “23-31 August 1925”, has entered the pages of history as an important event of the Republican period. This period was named “Culture, History and Art Week”.