Amasya

Amasya has almost no room to spread. The Yesilirmak cuts a gorge and the town lines both banks, with a row of restored Ottoman timber houses standing directly above the water on the north side, doubled in the river most mornings. Above them the cliff is cut with the rock tombs of the Pontic kings, deep chambers hollowed out of the face and reached by stairs and a rock-cut passage, lit at night so they hang over the town. A castle holds the ridge higher still. Ottoman princes were sent here to learn to govern, and they left mosques, medreses and a hospital behind. The geographer Strabo was born in the city.

What you actually see

• The rock tombs - hollowed royal chambers cut into the cliff face.
• The riverfront houses - restored timber konaks above the Yesilirmak.
• The castle - ramparts and a rock tunnel on the ridge above.
• The Ottoman core - mosques, medreses and the old hospital in the centre.

When to go

Late spring and early autumn; the gorge traps heat in July and August and the climbs get unpleasant. Stay a night, because the tombs and the cliff are floodlit and the riverbank at dusk is the best part of the visit. Weekends bring domestic crowds to the riverside restaurants.

Honest expectations

The tombs are empty chambers, impressive from below and anticlimactic once you have climbed the stairs to them. The riverfront is a tourist strip with the prices to match. Several of the timber houses are reconstructions rather than survivals, and the castle road is steep with limited parking at the top.

Nearby

The Hittite site of Alacahoyuk to the southwest and the Black Sea coast to the north.