Must-see attractions in Amasya

Looming above the northern bank of the river is a sheer rock face with the conspicuous rock-cut Tombs of the Pontic Kings. The tombs, chiselled deep into…

Amasya's museum packs in treasures from the Chalcolithic era up to the Byzantine age in its ground-floor galleries. Look out for the famous bronze…

The graceful Sultan Beyazıt II Cami (1486) is Amasya's largest külliye (mosque complex), with a medrese (seminary), fountain, imaret (soup kitchen) and…

Perched precariously atop rocky Mt Harşena, Amasya's kale (castle) offers magnificent views down the valley. The much-repaired walls date from Pontic…

Built as a psychiatric hospital in 1309 by Ilduş Hatun, wife of the İlkhanid Sultan Olcaytu, the Darüşşifa (Bimarhane) may have been the first place to…

The Gök Medrese Cami was built from 1266 to 1267 for Seyfettin Torumtay, the Seljuk governor of Amasya. The eyvan (vaulted recess) serving as its main…

The pretty Mehmet Paşa Cami was built in 1486 by Lala Mehmet Paşa, tutor to Şehzade Ahmet, the son of Sultan Beyazıt II. It's rather simple inside but…

The Hazeranlar Konağı, constructed in 1865 and restored in 1979, was built by Hasan Talat, the accountant of governor-poet Ziya Paşa, for his sister,…

This Seljuk-era mosque was built between 1237 and 1247. Inside, the plain white, domed interior is offset by a very jazzy gold-coloured mihrab (niche…

The impressive Büyük Ağa Medresesi (1488) has an octagonal layout, rarely seen in Ottoman medrese (seminary) architecture. It was built by Sultan Beyazıt…

Turn left at the Pontic tombs ticket office and then through a tunnel carved into the cliff to these unfortunately rather graffiti-covered tombs where the…

The Gümüşlü Cami (1326) is the earliest Ottoman mosque in Amasya, but has been rebuilt several times: in 1491 after an earthquake, in 1612 after a fire,…

This early Ottoman mosque (1419) follows a twin-domed plan that was a forebear in style to the famous Yeşil Cami in Bursa. Colourful painted stalactite…

The tombs of the first three kings of the kingdom of Pontus are the most impressive in the cliff face, though up close there's nothing much to see. Climb…

This one-room museum in the grounds of the Sultan Beyazit II Cami is home to a recreation of Amasya in miniature that is a hit with visiting local…

Built in the early 16th century, the Hatuniye Cami sits snug within the row of restored Ottoman houses of Amasya's Hatuniye neighbourhood.

The small Fethiye Cami was originally a Byzantine church, estimated to have been built in the 7th century.

Amasya's old belediye (town council) building was built in the late Ottoman era and has a lovely stone facade.

The scant remains of this 14th-century hamam complex lie halfway up Amasya's hill.