Tokat, Amasya: Pontos

•Dogansar (Ipsili)

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•Tokat (Dadasa, Eudokia, Fazimon)

•Famous foods : Zile pekmezi from grapes after special treatment

Zile (Zela)

•47 BC battle of Caesar against Pontic King Pharnakes. Caesar said : Veni, vidi, vici (came, saw, conquered) in a short time (5 hours)

•Pontic-style houses

•Small Roman theatre, rock tombs

•Zela castle : the only solid castle in Anatolia built by Romans

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•Strabo claims that Zile was founded by Semiramis, the legendary Assyrian queen

•Famous bishops from here : Heraclius (at the First Council of Nicaea in 325), Atticus (Council of Chalcedon in 451), etc

•Used to have many churches

•Caesar’s famous column with his words carved on it was stolen in 2004.

•Area famous for grapes – not used for wine but pekmez – a syrup like liquid mixed with fruit juices

•Area boasts 100 % literacy

Turhal : (Talaura , Ibora ? 

•Inhabited since 3000 BC, tablets

•Strabo mentions it as a fortress in the north of Gayyura

•Today, two ruined towers and several tunnels

•Bishopry of Ibora

•Muslim refugees from the Balkans came in

•Strabo mentions it as Gaziura. A Greek inscription discovered on the rock of the fortress: a subterranean gallery descends to the interior of the mountain and served as a secret depository of the royal treasures

•Not far away was Arnesi, the property of Saint Basil who led a religious life on the bank of the river Iris with his friend Saint Gregory and his sister Macrina. Frequent reference to these two saints of Ibora. Seven bishops from the 4th to the 9th cent. Destroyed in an earthquake in the 6th cent.

•Gaziura : ancient residence of the kings of Pontos, abandoned in Strabo’s time. Some equate it with Talura, Ibora or Turhal

Amasya

•Although near the coast, it is still high. Famous for apples

•Famous for kings, Strabo, scientists

•The name comes from Amasis, the queen of the Amazons

•Narrow, steep valley, ideal for mountain stronghold, easy to defend

•Settled in 5,500 BC, capital of the king of Pontos from 333 BC to 26 BC

•Royal tombs of Pontus

•Strabo ( 60 BC – 19 AD), seat of a bishop