Guide > Amasra

Cornucopia’s travel guide

Amasra

Visit the guide page »

Amasra


The attractive, tranquil town of Amasra is the first real resort on the coast, and it has two small harbours and sandy beaches. Part of the town lies on an island reached over a Roman bridge. Amasra was the Ionian Sesamos mentioned by Homer, and under the Emperor Trajan it became a metropolis. In the Byzantine era it had a bishopric and the acropolis was fortified. The nearby town of Bartin has a number of wooden Ottoman houses and a lively Tuesday market.
What you will see

Two fortresses were built by the Genoese who rented the town from Byzantium, one overlooking the main harbour, one a crumbled ruin on the promontory. A small, prize-winning museum has Roman and Byzantine statuary. The Fatih Mosque and small Kilise Mescidi are founded on Byzantine churches.

Getting there

Amasra is 470 miles from Istanbul, 315 miles from Ankara. Buses run from Istanbul and Ankara to Bartin; where there are dolmuş.

Connoisseur’s Amasra
*Iznik Çini*<br> Iznik ceramics by master çiniçi, Mehmet Gürsoy
Ziyaret Tepe: Exploring the Anatolian frontier of the Assyrian Empire
Cornucopia Digital Subscription

Cornucopia Online

Cornucopia has joined forces with the digital publishing platform Exact Editions to offer individual and institutional subscribers unlimited access to a searchable archive of fascinating back issues and every newly published issue. This brand new resource is available cross-platform on web, iOS and Android and offers a comprehensive search function, allowing the title’s cultural content to be delved into at the touch of a button.

Digital Subscription: £18.99 / 1 year

Subscribe now

Print subscribers automatically receive FREE access to the digital archive. If you are already a subscriber, please register at www.exacteditions.com/digital/cornucopia with your subscriber account number or contact subscriptions@cornucopia.net