| Amasya | |
|---|---|
| — Town — | |
| Amasya and Yeşilırmak River | |
|
Amasya
|
|
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Region | Black Sea |
| Province | Amasya |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Cafer Özdemir (AKP) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Urban | 99,905 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
Amasya, the Amaseia of antiquity, is the capital of the administrative district of Amasya Province in northern Turkey. The population of the province is 334,786 and the population of the city is 99 905.[1] The mayor is Cafer Özdemir (AKP).
Amasya stands in the mountains above the Black Sea coast, in a narrow valley along the banks of the Yeşilırmak River. Although near the Black Sea, this area is high above the coast and has an inland climate, well-suited to growing apples, for which the province of Amasya is famed.
In antiquity, Amaseia (Αμάσεια) was a fortified city high on the cliffs above the river. It has a long history as provincial capital, a wealthy city producing kings and princes, artists, scientists, poets and thinkers, from the kings of Pontus, through Strabo the geographer, to many generations of the Ottoman imperial dynasty, and up to being the location of an important moment in the life of Ataturk. With its Ottoman period wooden houses and the tombs of the Pontus kings carved into the cliffs overhead, Amasya is attractive to visitors.
Contents |
According to Strabo the name Αμάσεια comes from Amasis, the queen of the Amazons, who were said to have lived here. The name has changed little throughout history, Αμάσεια, Amaseia, Amassia and Amasia all being found in ancient Greek and Roman coinage, and continuing to be used through modern times by Greeks. In Armenian, it is written Armenian: Ամասիա, in Ottoman "أماصيا", and in modern Turkish "Amasya", all representing the same sound.
Situated between the Black Sea and inner Anatolia in a region of fertile plains irrigated by the Tersakan, Çekerek and Yeşilırmak rivers, Amasya lies in a naturally beautiful narrow river valley, bounded by almost vertical cliffs and high peaks of the Canik and Pontus mountains.
Five bridges cross the river, and most of the town lies on the southern bank, spread along the river. The climb up to the higher ground is very steep, making the valley walls uninhabitable. The town is therefore shaped like a letter 'v' as it follows a sharp bend in the river.
Amasya features a Continental Mediterranean climate with hot summers and cold, rainy winters.
| Climate data for Amasya | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 21.3 (70.3) |
24.8 (76.6) |
31.2 (88.2) |
35.8 (96.4) |
37.5 (99.5) |
41.8 (107.2) |
45.0 (113.0) |
42.2 (108.0) |
40.3 (104.5) |
36.0 (96.8) |
29.7 (85.5) |
22.9 (73.2) |
45 (113.0) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 6.9 (44.4) |
9.3 (48.7) |
14.3 (57.7) |
20.1 (68.2) |
24.8 (76.6) |
28.6 (83.5) |
31.0 (87.8) |
31.4 (88.5) |
27.7 (81.9) |
21.6 (70.9) |
14.1 (57.4) |
8.6 (47.5) |
19.87 (67.76) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −1.1 (30.0) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
2.6 (36.7) |
6.9 (44.4) |
10.5 (50.9) |
14.0 (57.2) |
16.3 (61.3) |
16.3 (61.3) |
12.7 (54.9) |
8.4 (47.1) |
3.4 (38.1) |
0.9 (33.6) |
7.56 (45.60) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −21 (−5.8) |
−20.4 (−4.7) |
−15.3 (4.5) |
−5.1 (22.8) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
4.8 (40.6) |
8.5 (47.3) |
8.8 (47.8) |
3.0 (37.4) |
−2.7 (27.1) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−12.7 (9.1) |
−21 (−5.8) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 45.4 (1.787) |
35.3 (1.39) |
43.2 (1.701) |
59.3 (2.335) |
51.1 (2.012) |
37.6 (1.48) |
17.5 (0.689) |
10.8 (0.425) |
21.4 (0.843) |
40.0 (1.575) |
47.1 (1.854) |
53.9 (2.122) |
462.6 (18.213) |
| Avg. rainy days | 11.9 | 10.9 | 12.3 | 13.3 | 12.5 | 8.6 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 5.2 | 8.2 | 9.7 | 12.1 | 112.2 |
| Sunshine hours | 65.1 | 86.8 | 142.6 | 174 | 232.5 | 273 | 303.8 | 291.4 | 231 | 155 | 96 | 58.9 | 2,110.1 |
| Source: Devlet Meteoroloji İşleri Genel Müdürlüğü [2] | |||||||||||||
Its location in this steep valley makes the city a mountain stronghold, easy to defend, and thus Amasya has had a long and prominent history.
Archaeological research shows that Amasya was first settled in 5500 BC by the Hittites and subsequently by Phrygians, Cimmerians, Lydians, Persians, Armenians.
By 183 BC the city was settled by Hellenistic people, eventually becoming the capital of the kings of Pontus from 333 BC to 26 BC. Today there are prominent ruins including the royal tombs of Pontus in the rocks above the riverbank in the centre of the city.
Amaseia was captured by the Roman Lucullus in 70 BC from Armenia and was quickly made a free city and administrative center of his new province of Bithynia and Pontus by Pompey. By this time Amaseia was a thriving city, the home of thinkers, writers and poets, and one of them, Strabo, left a full description of Amaseia as it was between 60 BC and 19 AD. Around 2 or 3 BC, it was incorporated into the Roman province of Galatia, in the district of Pontus Galaticus. Around the year 112, the emperor Trajan designated it a part of the province of Cappadocia.[3][4] Later in the 2nd century it gained the titles 'metropolis' and 'first city'. After the division of the Roman Empire by emperor Diocletian the city became part of the East Roman Empire (the Byzantine Empire). At this time it had a predominantly Greek-speaking population.
In 1075 following 700 years of Byzantine rule Amasya was conquered by the Turkmen Danishmend emirs. It became their capital until it was annexed by the Seljuk ruler Kiliç Arslan II. Under the Seljuks and the Ilkhan the city became a centre of Islamic culture. Schools, mosques, tombs and other architecture of this period still remain.
After being incorporated into the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Bayezid I Amasya grew in importance as a centre of learning; the children of the Ottoman rulers being sent here for their education. As part of their preparation for future rule they were given the position and responsibility of governor of Amasya. Future sultans from Beyazid I in the late 14th century through to Murat III in the 16th were schooled here and held the position of governor in their youth.
The population of Amasya at this time was very different from that of most other cities in the Ottoman Empire; as it was part of their the training for the future sultans to learn about every nation of the Empire. Every millet of the Empire was represented in Amasya in a particular village—such as a pontic village, an Armenian village, a Bosnian village, a Tatar village, a Turkish village, an Arab village, a Kurdish village, etc. (see: 1927 Population count data by DİE.)
In 1919 Amasya was the location of the final planning meetings held by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk for the building of a Turkish army to establish the Turkish republic following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War. It was here that Mustafa Kemal made the announcement of the Turkish War of Independence in the Amasya Circular.
The Greeks of Amasya were replaced by Turks from Greece in the population exchange at the founding of the Turkish Republic.
Amaseia became the seat of a Christian bishop and archbishop in Roman times; there is a list of bishops from the third century.[5] The bishopric eventually lapsed, probably, like so many others, after the Turkish conquest of Anatolia. In 1687 the title of Archbishop of Amaseia was conferred as a titular distinction on Ferdinando d'Adda, the papal representative to King James II of England. The Catholic titular bishopric has been conferred a dozen times since.[6] Amasia remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic church.[7]
The province of Amasya is known for producing high-quality, small but well-flavoured apples. Other crops include tobacco and poppy seeds. Other economic activities in the region include mining, textiles and cement manufacture, but Amasya is not a very wealthy city. It is however an attractive, well-preserved town, especially when sitting by the river, which has a particular mystique on a winter evening when fog fılls the valley. Tourists (and also soldiers from the local base) contribute valuable income to the shopkeepers of the city. The railway line from Sivas to Samsun runs through Amasya, and there is an attractive Ottoman period railway station.
There is some nightlife, mainly bars and cafes for students, and some basic restaurants. The cuisine includes the local specialty toyga çorbası, a soup containing yoghurt, drunk hot or cold. Other delights include pastries with poppy seeds and tea by the riverbank.
In its Turkish version, this classic tale of oriental folklore is held to have taken place in Amasya. The nearby mountain Ferhat is named for Farhad (Turkish spelling Ferhat), the hero of the legend, who for love of the princess Shirin (Turkish spelling Şirin) tried to win her father's favour and permission by tunnelling through the mountain to bring spring water to his palace. Sadly, while he was working he was sent the false information that Shirin had died; upon which he threw himself onto the rocks in his grief. And his beloved princess died soon after. The story has since become a play by Nazim Hikmet, a novel by Talip Apaydın, and an opera by Arif Melikov.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||