Amasra is a historical seaport built on a peninsula. For centuries there have been two bays and two islands that have welcomed mariners from across the seas. And five hills, each more beautiful than the last. Looking down from Boztepe (or Sandy Hill) is one of the most spectacular scenes ever to be seen. The night-lights and the evening shadows are a subtle invitation to follow the road from the center of town over the historical bridge. One of the most beautiful towns on the Black Sea coast, was called Sesamos in ancient times, when it was founded by the Miletians in the sixth century B.C. it stands on a peninsula split by two inlets. The eastern side enjoys a reputation for good swimming. On the rocky promontry rise the ramparts of the Byzantine citadel, inside of which is an old church, now the Fatih Mosque. The necropolis dates from the Roman period. Remnants from Amasra?s entire history are displayed in the Archaeology Museum. You can purchase a handcarved wood souvenir on Cekiciler street. Continuing eastward along the coast, you arrive at Cakraz, a typical fishing village with excellent beaches, friendly accommodations and restaurants. The winding road between Cakraz and Inebolu has steep mountainsides and offers a spectular panoramic view.
Amasra is mostly a fishing town. The townspeople for centuries have always loved the sea and fish and the town has been a favored port in the stormy Black Sea. The fishermen have remained at port awaiting the end of the storm and during the severe winter months the houses of Amasra have harbored fishermen for whole six-month seasons as they awaited the coming of spring. The sea and fish continued to play an important role in the development of contemporary tourism in the area. The boarding-houses in the town are run by the townspeople. The people of Amasra opened their houses to tourists long before the first hotel or boarding-house was built to accommodate visitors. It has been felt as an obligation to establish a museum in Amasra, as this city is a centre of archaic settlement and rich in terms of historical monuments. Many activities were carried out for long years under the leadership of the poet - author Tahir Karao?z to establish a museum in Amasra. The building was opened to visitors on January 30th, 1982 upon the completion of restoration work. The museum is on a single floor and has 4 exhibition halls, 2 of which are archaeological and 2 of which are ethnographic halls. Most of the monuments in the exhibition halls were collected from Amasra and its environs.
No. 1 Archaeological Monument Hall: Small findings belonging to Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Eras are being exhibited in this hall. Earthenware and glass vessels for perfume and collecting tears, golden and bronze burial ornaments, various kinds of amphora and jugs recovered from the sea are also exhibited in this hall. There are also bronze statues, bracelets, fishing hooks, crucifixes, weapons, oil - lamps and vessels of the same period. Besides, golden, silver and bronze coins of Hellenistic, Rome and Byzantine Times are exhibited as well.
No. 2 Archaeological Monument Hall: This hall is wholly allocated to the marble monuments of Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Genoese Eras. Statues, statue heads, grave steles, various embossed architectural objects are exhibited in this hall.
No. 1 Ethnographical Monument Hall: Small monuments of the Late Ottoman Period are exhibited in this hall. These monuments include copper kitchen vessels, weapons, writing sets, candlesticks, stamps, scales, ceramics, rings and vessels reflecting tree drawings, an art specific to the Amasra region.
No. 2 Ethnographic Monument Hall: Clothes reflecting the customary clothing of the region and silver ornaments belonging to Late Ottoman Period are exhibited in this hall. There are also bedding and bed covers, Korans, carpets, small bags and old wall clocks in this hall. In addition, a Mediterranean map dated 1852, printed in the printing press of the palace, is exhibited in the corridor of the museum. There are stone monuments of Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Genoese Times in the garden of the museum.
History
Situated in the ancient region of Paphlagonia, the original city seems to have been called Sesamus, and it is mentioned by Homer in conjunction with Cytorus. Stephanus says that it was originally called Cromna; but in another place , where he repeats the statement, he adds, as it is said; but some say that Cromna is a small place in the territory of Amastris, which is the true account. The place derived its name Amastris from Amastris, the niece of the last Persian king Darius III, who was the wife of Dionysius, tyrant of Heraclea, and after his death the wife of Lysimachus. Four small Ionian colonies, Sesamus, Cytorus, Cromna, also mentioned in the Iliad , and Tium, were combined by Amastris, after her separation from Lysimachus5, to form the new community of Amastris, placed on a small river of the same name and occupying a peninsula. Tium, says Strabo, soon detached itself from the community, but the rest kept together, and Sesamus was the acropolis of Amastris. From this it appears that Amastris was really a confederation or union of three places, and that Sesamus was the name of the city on the peninsula. This may explain the fact that Mela mentions Sesamus and Cromna as cities of Paphlagonia, and does not mention Amastris.
The territory of Amastris produced a great quantity of boxwood, which grew on Mount Cytorus. Its tyrant Eumenes presented the city of Amastris to Ariobarzanes of Pontus in c. 265?260 BC rather than submit it to domination by Heraclea, and it remained in the Pontic kingdom until its capture by Lucius Lucullus in 70 BC in the second Mithridatic War. The younger Pliny, when he was governor of Bithynia and Pontus, describes Amastris, in a letter to Trajan, as a handsome city, with a very long open place (platea), on one side of which extended what was called a river, but in fact was a filthy, pestilent, open drain. Pliny obtained the emperor's permission to cover over this sewer. On a coin of the time of Trajan, Amastris has the title Metropolis. It continued to be a town of some note to the seventh century of our era.
The city was not abandoned in Byzantine Era, when the acropolis was trasformed in a fortress and the still surviving church was built. But it was in 1261 that Amastris regained part of its former importance; in that year the town was taken by the Italian city-state of Genoa in its bid to obtain sole control of the Black Sea trade. Genoese domination ended in 1460 when the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II conquered the hole Anatolian shores of the Black Sea, forcing its inhabitants to move to Istanbul. The Greeks were replaced with Turkish villagers and the church became a mosque, the town losing most of its former importance.
Distances & Travel TimesAnkara: 310 km (193 miles) S, 6 hoursBartin: 16 km (10 miles) S, 25 minutesIstanbul: 374 km (232 miles) W, 7 hoursKastamonu: 197 km (122 miles) E, 4 hoursSafranbolu: 90 km (56 miles) S, 2 hoursSamsun: 480 km (298 miles) E, 9 hours by carSinop: 312 km (194 miles) E, 7 hours by car (no direct bus service)Zonguldak: 100 km (62 miles) W, 2 hours
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