Samsun
The first settlement traces in Samsun, which was an ancient settlement until the Historical Era, were found in the caves in the south of Tekkeköy. The old community known to live by establishing a state within the borders of Samsun Province is the Gaşkalar. (5000-3500 BC) After the first known civilization, the Hittites (3000-1100 BC), Phrygians (2000-1200 BC), Kimmerians (1182-676 BC), Lydians (1200-547 BC) today called Kara Samsun. they established a site called “Enete” in the known place. The Miletians (2000 BC-400 BC) settled in ENETE via the Black Sea from the Aegean and named it “Amisos”.
After the Persians (550-330 BC)
defeated the Lydian King Krezus (546 BC), Amisos fell to the Persian Empire. Amisos, which passed into the hands of the Macedonian Empire as a result of Alexander the Great’s defeating the Persians in 331 BC,It was the capital of the Persian origin Pont Kingdom (255-63 BC) founded by the death of.
Amisos, which was ruled by the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC, remained within the borders of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Rome) after the Roman Empire was divided into two in 385. In 860, Amisos was captured by the forces under the command of Malatyalı Korkunç Ömer upon the order of the Caliph Mutasim, but was taken back by the Byzantines. When the Turks entered Anatolia, Samsun was besieged by Danişmentians, but it could not be taken.
During the Anatolian Seljuks
the Muslim settlements of Samsun passed into the Anatolian Seljuk domination in 1185. It is the first time that the name Amisos was used as Samsun by the Seljuks. Samsun Genoese, who came under the sovereignty of the Trabzon Greek Empire after the Crusades,They lived here for 100 years as a result of taking over the trade. “Muslim Samsun” is 3 km away from Samsun where Turks live. The trade site of the Genoese, located at a distance, was called “Gavur Samsun”.
Even after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, after establishing the Muslim Samsun by establishing a castle on the sea shore of Samsun, which could not be taken by Danişmentliler, after the 1243 Kösedağ War, the Greek Cypriot Empire came under the rule of the Anatolian Turks in 1296 and in 1389, during the Ottoman period of Yıldırım Beyazıt. It has joined its territory. As the Anatolian Seljuk State collapsed, it also served as the capital of the Canik Principality.
After the Kösedağ War
the Turkish spread stopped in the Black Sea. After that, Canik Principalities assumed the duty of the Seljuks. It can be said that the principalities were very effective in the Turkification of the Canik field. After this date, Pervaneoğulları, Hacıemiroğulları, Kubatoğulları, Taceddinoğulları, Taşanoğulları and İsfendiyaroğulları took the region at different dates and intervals.
After the Ottoman state took Samsun under their rule, Samsun-based Canik Sanjak was created. The Canik Sanjak included Fatsa and Ünye, which are affiliated to Ordu today, extending to Bafra and Kavak. Although Canik seemed to be formally connected to Trabzon until Compensation, it was officially connected to the province of Sivas. After the Republic was declared, it became the center of the province in 1923.
Places to visit in Samsun
Samsun is one of the most important cities of the Black Sea with its rich cultural texture and clean nature. Places to see in this city are as follows :
• Amisos Hill
• Batıpark and Amazon Village
• Saathane Square
• Historical Tobacco Factory
• The Statue of Liberty
• Liberation Road
• Bandırma Ferry Museum
• Gazi Museum
• Kızılırmak Bird Sanctuary
• Yörükler Subasar Forests
Amisos Hill :
After watching the beauty of Samsun on the Amisos Hill, the first settlement of the city, you can also visit Amisos Ancient City and reach the historical king tombs. Amisos Hill, one of the most visited points of Samsun, is located 8 kilometers from the city center. It is possible to reach the vehicle on the 100th Year Boulevard in about 20 minutes. You can reach the hill by cable car from Batıpark to reach the beauty of the city.
Batıpark and Amazon Village :
Batıpark, which brings together the go-kart track, restaurants, parks where green and blue mix, and Amazon Village, has become a place for people who want to spend a good time with their family and friends. Amazon Island and Village are perfect for spending a pleasant time on the historical journey in order to explain the life styles of Amazon women, who are located in Samsun and thought to live in Samsun. Batıpark is located approximately 8 kilometers from the city center.
Saathane Square :
Together with Cumhuriyet Square, Saathane Square, which is one of the two big squares of the city, takes its name from the Clock tower in the square. II. Although the clock tower, built in 1886, the 10th anniversary of the throne of Abdülhamit, was repaired, it still stands to day with its first magnificence. In addition, the Town Hall, which is also the works of the westernization period of the Ottoman Empire, is the Ottoman Bank (used as Garanti Bank today), Athens Bank (used as Ziraat Bank today) and the Constitutional Theater, which is one of the first cinemas of Samsun (Kuveyt Türk Bank today. ) It is also located in this square.
Historical Tobacco Factory :
Samsun city, which had an important place in trade between Anatolia and Crimea in the 18th century, became a commercial center in the 19th century with the spread of tobacco cultivation. The factory, which was stated to be built in 1887, is one of the first cigarette production facilities in our country. Today, the Historical Tobacco Factory, which was renovated and opened to the public with the name of Bulvar Shopping Center, still makes us feel that it was the most important industrial structure of its period. It is possible to see the building, which was once used as the Austrian-Hungarian Embassy Building, which was later converted into the Tobacco Factory Directorate building. (Today it belongs to a famous chain of restaurants called Mc’Donalds. On the one hand, it is one of the most important places to feel history while shopping.
The Statue of Liberty :
This valuable work, also known as the “Ataturk Monument”, has been located in Ataturk Park in the city center of Samsun since 1931. In the work made by Austrian artist Heinrich Krippel, Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk stands on a horse.
Liberation Road :
Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is the pier where he set foot in Samsun on the morning of 19 May 1919 with his 18 friends to start the Independence Struggle. This historical pier, which witnessed the beginning of this blessed march, has been reconstructed similar to the original. The Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his friends to the pier and the people of Samsun who went to meet him were sculpted with wax technique. Kurtuluş Yolu, a place where you can witness the beginning of our War of Independence, is one of the places you must visit.
Bandırma Ferry Museum :
It was rebuilt with reference to the original drawings of the ship that brought the Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades to Samsun on May 19, 1919, and is now open to use as a museum. There are wax statues of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his four comrades in the ship’s cabin. Other works exhibited in the ship are the wall clock, telephone, map measurement materials, tables, and chairs manufactured in 1878.
Within the National Struggle Park was established on a huge area; ceramic reliefs symbolize the tough struggle that lasted from the Battle of Çanakkale until the enemy dumped into the sea İzmir. In the museum, the inscription of the martyrs with the names of 1200 soldiers who died in the War of Independence from Samsun and its districts, ten bronze reliefs depicting the War of Independence, War materials such as cannon, rifle, and submarine mines used by the hero Mehmetçik are also exhibited in the Seven-figure National Liberation Monument and the Independence Struggle.
Gazi Museum :
Mıntıka Palace Hotel was built in 1902 by Ionnis Mantika as a two-storey hotel. The Great Leader Mustafa Kemal stayed in this hotel when Atatürk arrived in Samsun. On 12 June 1926, this building was given to Mustafa Kemal Pasha on behalf of the people of Samsun. After the death of the Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, his sister Makbule Atadan first passed the 19 May Public Museum in 1939. The lower floor of the building, whose upper floor was converted into a museum, served as a theater between 1985-1996. Since 1998, it has started to serve as Samsun Gazi Museum.
Kızılırmak Bird Paradise :
There is one of the most fertile natural areas on earth in Kızılırmak Delta, which forms the Bafra Plain. Kızılırmak Bird Paradise, which has a magnificent biological diversity and has the status of a national park, has a rare natural beauty.When you walk in the way of nature intertwined march also located where you can observe the 340 bird species, 420 bird species identified so far in Turkey. Of the 24 endangered bird species around the world, 15 were identified in this delta.
Of these, the Great Sea Whistle, Northern Shrike, Small Bunting and White Bunting have only been seen in Kızılırmak Delta for the last 20 years. Some of the other bird species in endangered ‘Kızılırmak Bird Paradise’ are; Crested Pelican, Dwarf Cormorant, Alboyunlu Goose, Dikkuyruk, Şah Kartal, Sea Eagle, Lesser Kestrel, Tarda. Among these are Sea Eagle, Crested Pelican, Black Stork, Stork, Crane, Heron, Duck Yağmurcan and passerine Passeriformes. Accommodation of 100,000 water birds,It is the best indicator of the richness of the delta by the nutrients and fauna elements.
Yörükler Subasar Forests :
It is one of the most interesting and rare subasar forests of our country in terms of wildlife in Kızılırmak delta location in 19 Mayıs district in Samsun. The base of the forest, mostly composed of ash tree, is completely covered with water in the spring and the water is covered with the leaves of the trees. The best time to see this magnificent forest is spring. In the forest there is also bird watching.
Writen by : Dorukhan Kandemir
