Amasya

Introduction

Amasya sits in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region, in a narrow valley along the banks of the Yeşilırmak River. Though it lies above the Black Sea coast, the mountains around it give the area an inland climate, and the surrounding province is known for its apples. The city has a long history stretching back thousands of years, with many traces still visible today, and it was the home of the geographer Strabo and the birthplace of the 15th-century Armenian scholar and physician Amirdovlat Amasiatsi.

Before you go

Amasya's story is bound up with the River Yeşilırmak, which carves a deep gorge through the mountains here, and with the cliff-face rock tombs cut by the rulers of Pontus. The town's place in history came as a refuge: after Timur defeated the Ottomans at Ankara, Sultan Bayezid's son Mehmet was spirited away to Amasya, grew up to become Sultan and restored Ottoman power. That began a tradition of princes being brought here to learn statecraft, and their patronage embellished the town. The local Greek historian Strabo, who was born and raised in Amasya, named the town for the Amazons - a claim worth treating with the same caution as the rest of his Geographica.

Because heavy industry was never established here, the Ottoman old town has been preserved, and the town today runs on small-scale industry and apple growing. It is also an army training base: all Turkish males over 20 must serve at least a month, and each intake has graduation ceremonies, usually on the second Wednesday of the month, when families flock in. That is about the only time you're likely to find Amasya booked out, so plan around it if your dates are flexible.

Getting there

Amasya Merzifon Airport (MZH) receives daily flights from Istanbul that take about 90 minutes, and the airport sits 42 km northwest of town. By rail, the Hattı train runs three days a week from Sivas, which is connected to Ankara by fast trains and to the east of Turkey by slow ones; the journey to Amasya takes around five hours, and the train continues to Havza and Samsun. A separate early-morning service reaches Samsun in about three hours and returns in the late afternoon. Amasya railway station (Amasya Garı) is in the west part of town; coming out, turn left (west) along Yalı Sokak for budget pansiyons. If you catch the early train to Samsun, you will likely find someone on the platform selling samovar tea and simit.

Long-distance buses from Istanbul take about 11 hours overnight via Gebze and Bolu and continue from Amasya to Samsun, while Ankara is served by six buses a day taking around four hours via Çorum; there is also one daily service each from Izmir and Antalya. Amasya Tur is the main bus line, and dolmuşes are plentiful. The new bus station, Amasya Otogar, lies 10 km northwest of town at the junction with the bypass; it is modern but has poor facilities, including no ATM, so carry cash for ticket kiosks and taxis. Your inter-city ticket may include a downtown transfer, so ask when booking; on arrival you cross the main building to reach the transfer minibuses into the centre. The former bus station in Kirazlıdere district still appears on some maps but is a demolition site.

Getting around

Amasya sits in a narrow valley along the Yeşilırmak River, and its compact, linear layout means most of what you have come to see is within walking distance of everything else. The historic core along the river — the Ottoman timber houses, the Hazeranlar Mansion, the bazaar and the rock-cut Pontic royal tombs — is small and largely flat along the waterfront, and it is best explored on foot. Traffic is restricted in the Old Town and diverted through a tunnel, which keeps the riverside pleasant to stroll. Walking should be your default mode of transport: the riverside promenade is lined with shops, cafes and historical homes, and local drivers are generally respectful toward pedestrians. The one notable exception is Amasya Castle, which requires an uphill walk; many visitors prefer to take a taxi up and walk back down. Cycling is also possible, especially along the river areas where the terrain is gentle, though it gets steep near the castle and in the peripheral parts of the city, and cycling infrastructure is not fully developed — main roads may lack dedicated bike lanes.

Amasya has no metro or tram network, so you can rule those out entirely. Rail service is limited to the Samsun–Sivas line, served by slow regional trains; there is a single daily Samsun–Amasya regional train that leaves Amasya very early in the morning, so check current TCDD times if you plan to use it. Amasya railway station (Amasya Garı) sits in the west part of town. Public transit within the city is limited and consists primarily of municipal city buses and dolmuş minibuses running on fixed routes, useful for destinations beyond walking distance, including the bus station and the airport, as well as for connections to nearby cities; dolmuş minibuses also run regularly from the otogar to nearby towns such as Merzifon, Suluova and Gümüşhacıköy. Carry cash in small Turkish lira for dolmuş rides and short taxi trips — not all drivers accept cards. Metered yellow taxis wait at ranks by the train station, the otogar and the main squares, and can be flagged down or phoned; fares are modest by European standards. Ride-hailing apps such as Uber are not widely active in Amasya, so plan on taxis or dolmuş instead. A taxi is a sensible choice for the climb up to the castle or for harder-to-reach areas. Renting a car is the most flexible way to reach provincial sights such as the thermal springs, Borabay Lake and the Hittite sites around Çorum; roads are good and fuel is cheap, but parking is tight in the narrow riverside old town. The geothermal spas in Amasya Province tend to be hard to reach by public transport, so they are best visited on a road trip with your own wheels.

Where to stay

Amasya’s places to stay cluster in the town centre, with a handful of options on the highway or hills just outside it. For motorists, a modern and efficient hotel sits on the highway north of the centre, while a clean and comfortable place in the town centre suits those who want to be on foot. Atmospheric konaks—traditional restored houses—are a signature of the city: one sits on the riverbank, and another is a friendly central konak next to a supermarket.

Near the Beyazid Mosque, a renovated historic building offers a beautiful, cool courtyard, though beds are cramped for tall guests and music can blare late into the night. On the hill south of town, a hotel with great views falls short on cleanliness and catering. Book ahead in busy periods, and choose between central convenience and the easier parking of the highway edge.

Food & drink

You'll find several eateries along both banks of the river, so you can eat with a view of the water. To try a local specialty, head to Anadolu Mantı House on Hazeranlar Sk, about 100 m east of Madenüs Bridge. Mantı is a kind of homemade pasta served with various toppings, and this small spot is a good place to try it.

Cafés and restaurants serve alcohol, but there is no free-standing bar in the city. For tea, Yesil Ev (green house) is a tea shop by the railway station, open daily. If you're with a group, order a semaver — the Turkish version of the samovar — and you'll be set up for hours of drinking tea.

What to see and do

Start on the north bank, where Harşena hill rises abruptly behind the river. A steep path up begins at the remains of Kızlar Sarayı, an Ottoman palace of which only a few walls survive. Along the way, the Tombs of the Pontic Kings are carved into the rock face, dating to the 3rd century BC, with five here and more than a dozen scattered across the hill and beyond. The hilltop has been fortified since 3000 BCE and repeatedly stormed and rebuilt; what you see now is mostly from the 1075 AD rebuild, on two levels and riddled with cisterns and tunnels, with great views over the city.

Below the castle, the Hatuniye district is the Old Town along the north riverbank, once enclosed by city walls. Hazeranlar Street runs east from Madenüs Bridge to Alçak Bridge and Hacı Tevfik Street; these narrow, traffic-restricted alleys are lined with picturesque houses. On this strip you'll find the Calligraphy Museum, the Hatuniye Mosque of 1510, and the Haranlar Mansion, a 1483 house restored as a gallery and museum of 19th-century life. Near Alçak Bridge, the Şehzadeler Museum displays waxworks of the princes who lived here. In the city centre, the Bimarhane is a medrese of 1305 that became a mental health facility treating patients with music, later a music conservatory and now a museum of Sabuncuoğlu's work. The Archaeology Museum holds the Hittite statuette of Amasya, mosaics, the tomb of Sultan Mesud I in its garden, and naturally air-dried mummies from the Mongol period. Elsewhere, the Burmali Minare Mosque of around 1240 has a spiral-fluted minaret rebuilt in 1730, the Gök Medrese is a Seljuk madrasah and mosque of around 1267 with fifteen domes, and the Beyazıt II complex of 1486 houses the city library and a miniature museum with a scale model of Amasya as it stood in 1914. Further out, Mirror Cave is a rock tomb with Byzantine wall paintings, its name coming from the reflective portal when caught by the sun, though you may find the entrance barred; Lake Borabay is a small mountain lake in the forests of Ak Dağı with a hiking trail around it, camping, picnic tables, chalets, a restaurant and pedal boats.

When to go

Amasya has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate with Black Sea and continental Mediterranean influences, which makes it warmer than central Anatolia and milder in winter. Summers are hot, with strong daytime heat, so plan your sightseeing for mornings and evenings.

Winters are milder than in central Anatolia, though cold spells are possible. Pack for genuinely cold days alongside milder ones.

Three days in Amasya

Day one: Start in Amasya itself, getting your bearings along the Yeşilırmak River, which runs through the city. As you walk, keep in mind the layers of history here: the city is associated with Strabo, the geographer born in Amasya, and with the Pontus kingdom, Timur, and the Ottomans, including Sultan Bayezid and Mehmet. The riverfront and the older quarters reward slow wandering rather than rushing.

Day two: Use the day to follow the river and the city's Ottoman heritage more closely, and to seek out the traces of its scholars and communities, including the Armenian physician Amirdovlat Amasiatsi. The Yeşilırmak is the thread that ties the day together, so plan your walking around it and let the streets of Amasya set the pace.

Day three: Look outward from the city toward the Black Sea Region. Amasya Merzifon Airport (MZH) connects the area with Istanbul, and rail links run via Amasya Gar toward Sivas, Havza and Samsun, so you can shape a final day around a short excursion or an easy departure. Keep the morning for a last walk along the river before you move on.