"Historical Amasya." a Amasya Travel Page by Tdiver

Located in the Yesilirmak valley,archaeological finds show that many civilisations have flourished in the area.The first going back to 5500B.C. but the more recent are the Hittites,the Kimmers,the Iskits,the Medes,Persians,the Hellenistic (Persian-Ponts),the Romans,the Byzantine,the Seljuk and the Ottoman Empire.
In the Hittite era it served as a centre of religion.In the Hellenistic the Capital of the Kingdom.Later it became a centre of culture where scholars,scientists,artists and poets lived.Well known historical figures like Geographer Strabon,Murad II,Bayezid II,Yavuz Sultan Selim,the master of calligraphers Seyh Hamdullah,the physician Sabuncuoglu Serefeddin and the first Ottoman poetess Mihri Hatum have all lived in Amasya.
It also played an important role during the War of Independence (1919-22).The idea of the foundation of the Modern Turkish Republic was first mentioned here in a written document,the Amasya Notice (June22, 1919).The famous statement "Independence of the nation will be realised by its self-determination" was also made here.

The Pontic Kings tombs are the most visible monuments in the valley,there are 21 of them in total.

Named after the mountain it sits on,it sits on 8 defensive levels and was first started around 3200 B.C.