Bayburt is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River. It is the seat of Bayburt Province and Bayburt District. Its population is 48,036 (2021).

Bayburt was once an important center on the ancient Silk Road. It was visited by Marco Polo in the 13th century, and also by Evliya Çelebi in the 16th century. Remains of its medieval castle still exist. There are several historical mosques, Turkish baths, and tombs in the city. 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) and in English as Baiburt. It was known under a variety of names during the Byzantine period; Procopius naming the city Baiberdon, meanwhile Kedrenos calling it Paiperte. The name derives from the medieval Armenian Baydbert (Բայտբերդ). In Movses of Khoren's History of Armenia the town is being named as Բայբերդ (Paypert). Movses asserts that the city's ancient name was Smpadapert, in reference to the Smbat I, founder of the Bagratuni dynasty. Dede Korkut mentions the city in his book a couple of times as بايبورد (Bayburd). It is thought that Baydbert consists of two words namely Bayd and Bert. The first one has been discussed so much but true etymon is not clear yet. However, the second one is most probably an Armenian loanword bert (բերդ) "fortress".

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 Persian Empire, Lesser Armenia, Pontus, Greater Armenia, Rome, the Byzantines, the Bagratid Armenian Kingdom, the Seljuk Turks, the Aq Qoyunlu, Safavid Persia, and then the Ottoman Turks.

The town was the site of an Armenian fortress in the 1st century and may have been the Baiberdon fortified by the emperor Justinian. It was raided by the Seljuks in 1054, recaptured by Theodore Gabras, and conquered by the Danishmendids before the Crusade of 1101. It was a stronghold of the Genovese in the late Middle Ages and prospered in the late 13th and early 14th century because of the commerce between Trebizond and Persia. It contained a mint under the Seljuks and Ilkhanids. From c. 1243 to 1266, Bayburt was under brief control of the Georgian princes of Samtskhe. A Christian church within the Bayburt Castle was built in the 13th century under the Trapezuntine or Georgian influence.

Bayburt and the surrounding areas are considered to be one of the earliest Turkish settlements in Anatolia. Under Ottoman rule, the town was the center of the Bayburt Sanjak in Erzurum Eyalet. When Erzurum was devastated in the early 16th century, Bayburt served for a time as the de facto capital of the province. The area was raided by the Safavids in 1553. Bayburt was captured by a Russian army under General Paskevich and its fortifications thoroughly demolished in 1829. It was the furthest westward reach of the Russians during that campaign. The British traveller and geologist William Hamilton commented on the ruins in the 1840s, though the population grew to 6000 by the 1870s. The bazaar, however, remained poor and the town long lacked industry. On the eve of the First World War, the population of 10,000 was mostly Turkish with some Armenians.

According to the Qamus al-A'lam (Qāmūsu'l-aˁlām/قاموس الأعلام, “Dictionary of the World”) of Shemseddin Sami, Sanjak of Bayburt, comprising four kazas called Ispir, Şiran, Kelkit and Bayburt itself, had 505 villages and 40 nahiyes. The sanjak had a population of 124,019 people. 108,373 people were Turkish and Muslim, and the rest of the population was Christian, predominantly Armenian.

Inside the Sanjak of Bayburt there were said to be 292 mosque and masjid, 176 madrasah, 87 church and monastery, 2 middle school (rushdiye), 108 primary school (sıbyan mektebi).