Tokat Off The Beaten Path Tips by Pinat

Discover the Bridges of Tokat over Yesilirmak!

The main bridge you'd come across when going from Tokat to Amasya is the "Hidirlik Bridge". It was built during the reign of Seljuk Empire in 1250 by Ibn El Hâkim. It's 117 meter long and 7 meter wide.

The bridge has an interesting story: When the Seljuk Emperor Gýyaseddin Keyhüsrev II died in 1246, he had three sons nominated to be crowned: Izzettin Keykavus, Rukneddin Kilicaslan ve Alaeddin Keykubat. The sons started to fight against each other for the crown. However, the high authorities of the Empire convinced these men to stop fighting and start ruling the empire all together. From 1246 to 1257 the sons ruled the empire peacefully. The Hidirlik Bridge was built in the period of their joint reign.

Breathing Fresh Air in Tokat Plateaus

On the mountains that connect Tokat and the Black Sea, there are various plateaus at various altitudes. To name a few:
- Topcam Plateau: 15 km from Tokat city center, at an altitude of 1600 m.
- Batmantas Plateau: 28 km from Tokat city center, at an altitude of 1850 m.
- Akbelen Plateau: 29 km from Tokat city center, at an altitude of 1740 m.
- Dumanli Plateau: 70 km from Tokat city center, at an altitude of 2580 m.

When you reach the houses of the locals, they offer you food and drinks and generally a place to spend the night. We tried this in Topcam Plateau, and had a lovely time.

Go Underground to Discover Ballica Cave!

If you are into caves, Ballica Cave is known to be one of the best in Turkey. As expected, there are many steps both inside and outside the cave. While we had hard time walking with our trekking shoes, we saw many locals managing perfectly well with slippers.

It's a big labyrinth inside. You see patterns like marbles on the walls and hear and smell the colonies of dwarf bats inside (Though you don't see any of them).

The cave is 30 km away from the center of Tokat, in Pazar district. You can take a minibus from the center to Pazar for 1 EUR. There are many taxis waiting in Pazar which will compete with each other to drive you to Ballica.

It takes almost an hour to see the whole cave.