The castle of Amasya stands on the ridge of a high rock behind the city, some 300 m above it. The first real fortress there dates probably from the time of the Pontus king Mithridates I (around 280 BC). It was expanded and repaired by the Romans, the Byzantines (1146, 1222) and the Ottomans (1449, 1511, 1669) to put off enemies, and very recently (starting around 2008) to attract tourists. Its renewed aspect is late medieval.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Sources: ‘Türkye Tarihi Yerler Kılavuzu’ – M.Orhan Bayrak, Inkılâp Kitabevi, Istanbul, 1994.
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