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Prehistory here extends back probably to the 15th century BC with Gaska tribes (contemporaries of the Hittites) settling here. Like all other valuable real estate in this area, Amasra has changed management many times. In the 12th century BC, the Phoenicians set up a town they called "Sesamos." Later the Ionians, the Miletians, and the Persians exerted control as the centuries rolled by. Alexander the Great had one of his commanders marry a Persian princess, Amastris, in order to enhance an alliance. She gave her name to the place. Amasra flourished under the Romans and staying somewhat on the radar until the 6th century AD. The Genoans, always looking for ways to control the Black Sea, added to its fortifications after they arrived in 1261 -- only to lose the town to the conquering Ottomans under Fatih Mehmet II. They ceded Amasra to them in 1460 -- several years after the fall of Constantinople.
Above is the eastern harbor with its breakwater at left. Coal seams abound in this region of northern Turkey and mining money pays for some of these second homes. Beaches tend to be very narrow in front of fairly steep limestone cliffs, probably formed in the Cretaceous period. This port has two harbors, but neither was large enough for our "small" cruise ship. We landed at Bartin and took a bus here. This inaccessibility helps keep this town relatively unpopulated (7000 people, not counting the many beach tourists). Even in Roman days, the major road bypassed Amasra -- leaving the sea as the major access to the outside world.
Here's another view from Roman days when the city flourished under Trajan in the 1st century AD. (Rome took over the place in 70 BC and their eastern empire "flowed" into the Byzantine period around 395AD). Note the two harbors (but the breakwater appears to be missing on the right). Some of this has been excavated (and we'll see a little of it in the museum near the end of these pictures). The Roman town was quite extensive and remains can be found well outside of the modern settlement.
Today most visitors are interested in sea and shore, not history. Many vacation homes have been raised financed by Turkish expatriates in places like Germany where over 2.5 million Turks live -- attracted by Germany's labor shortage after WWII. Many return here in fall for Ramadan.
Here's a view of the geologic slices stacked to form these rises. Many steep slopes provide natural protection which is often enhanced by walls built by Greeks, Byzantines, and Genoans in later centuries. This is, in fact, and island that was finally fortified and connected to the isthmus that forms the rest of Amasra.
Remnants of the old fortress rise among the present town. The general layout seems to have been created during the Byzantine days as they enhanced the Greek fortifications. However, these walls are more massive than what one would expect to protect a mid-size city/harbor not even on the Roman Road. Generally the bigger stones are from the Greeks and are on the bottom (with a bit of white marble showing here). The Byzantines stacked smaller stones to make the walls taller.
The rounded towers are from later periods, perhaps rebuilds of the original square towers. One theory for why Amasra is "over fortified" was that it held the Byzantine fleet. Some areas of the harbor show traces of what might have been a chain stretched across for defense as was the case at the Golden Horn harbor in Istanbul.
Time share, anyone?
One of the oldest buildings in town is this mosque -- once a Byzantine church built in the 9th century.
The fortress here has been upgraded a bit incongruously with a sculpture of the greatest Turk of the 20th century (if not of all time), their George Washington/Thomas Jefferson/Abraham Lincoln -- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Look closely and you'll see some marble commemorations among the old stones.
This is the outer west gate of the fortress called Zindan Kalesi. The town sprung up within this fort and remnants of walls and gates confronted us as we strolled through the area.
This may be made from boxwood, a valuable and common growth from this area.
Except for the aggressive rug dealers in Istanbul, we found the people of Turkey to be quite friendly -- and willing to be photographed. These seemed to be as interested in American tourists as we were in Turkish children.
We often found more flowers than flowerpots -- so the Turks seemed good at improvising with found objects such as old fishing boots...
...but why the socks?
The fort goes back to Roman days, with modifications by the Byzantines and the Genoans.
Some guidebooks say this was a Roman bath but our guide Nam was skeptical of this claim.
These walls are probably from the Genoan period. They put walls around both islands that the earlier Romans had connected with a bridge.
Another classic and modern juxtaposition of towers! If today you hear His voice, thank your Bluetooth.
Local mosques lack the dramatic architecture of the Imperial mosques found in Istanbul. All of them have a minaret, today with a loudspeaker.
Happy to see the day's monotony broken by a long tour bus struggling to squeeze through Amasra's narrow streets
Our last stop in Amasra was in their archeology museum with a collection 3500 years in the making.
These statues were found in the Amasra while excavating a hole for a septic tank in 1993. (And you thought you would never say "thanks for Turkish toilets!") They appeared to have been deliberately buried to protect them during the iconoclastic wars as 4th century Christians tried to destroy the remnants of the Roman polytheism by smashing their statues. In this case, they smashed the heads of these statues judged to be from around 120AD, given their posture and the folds of the marble clothing.
This stele contains guidance from its owner, Demetrios, from the 1st century AD.
Amphorae from Amasra have been found throughout the northern Black Sea coast. This area had a surplus of nuts from which the oil was extracted and exported.
On the way back to the ship, we stopped in Bartin at the mayor's request for refreshment (free) and rugs (not so free.)
Some of these cost and arm and a leg. Here Jay Winter and Caroline Piketty try to keep the Turks from sweeping genocide under the rug.
