Amasya Castle (), Harşene Castle, is a

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

located in

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol ...

, northern Turkey. The castle is located north of Amasya and the river Yeşilırmak on the steep rocks of Mount Harşena.

History

The castle was attacked, ruined, and changed hands many times over the course of the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Pontic Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to: The Black Sea Places * The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores * Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores * The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from nor ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

eras, and was restored each time. The castle was severely ruined during the battles between the Romans and Pontics. It was substantially restored after the 1075 conquest of Amasya by the

Danishmends The Danishmendids or Danishmends () were a Turkish dynasty. These terms also refer to the Turkish Anatolian Beyliks, state in Anatolia. It existed from 1071/1075 to 1178 and is also known as the Danishmendid Beylik (). The dynasty was centered or ...

, an

Oghuz Turk The Oghuz Turks ( Middle Turkic: , ) were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia ...

dynasty. It remained in use until the 18th century when it lost its military importance. While fleeing the invading troops of

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

in the first years of the 15th century, Ottoman then-

şehzade ''Şehzade'' () is the Ottoman form of the Persian title '' Shahzadeh'', and refers to the male descendants of an Ottoman sovereign in the male line. This title is equivalent to " prince of the blood imperial" in English. Origin ''Şehzade'' d ...

Çelebi Mehmed took refuge in Amasya Castle.

Description

The castle has four gates, named , , and . It includes dungeons, cisterns, wells and galleried monumental rock-tombs. The castle has eight-level defensive emplacements outside the castle down to the banks of Yeşilırmak River. The top-level fortification is constructed in

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

masonry while the defensive walls – in length – are made of

rubble masonry Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wi ...

. A system of rock-carved cisterns and connecting tunnels is situated in the middle of the castle. Several steep stair-tunnels descend from exterior

portal Portal may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), a series of video games developed by Valve ** ''Portal'' (video game), a 2007 video game, the first in the series ** '' Portal 2'', the 2011 sequel ** '' Portal Stori ...

s on the fortress hillsides to reach the enclosed wells, cisterns, and tombs below. One cistern, the "Cilanbolu", is reached by a tunnel stairway that descends . This tunnel's diameter is and it contains 150 steps leading downward. When built, the tunnel had a greater number: the steps at the tunnel's lower reaches have not survived. The Cilanbolu Cistern itself is long.

Other landmarks

Below the castle stand the ruins of a bastion and a mosque. On the southern hillside, there are ruins of the (), used during the

Ottoman period The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

. At about height, in a sheer rock face, there are 18 large and small tombs of Pontic kings, dating to the 3rd century BC and carved into the limestone cliff. At about of the ancient fortress walls along the Yeşilırmak River, typical Amasya houses,

hamam A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the Islamic culture, culture of the Muslim world and was inherited ...

s and mosques were built.

References

{{commons category, Amasya Castle Buildings and structures in Amasya Province Castles in Turkey Tourist attractions in Amasya Province