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Tokat
With its deep-rooted history and hosting many civilizations, Tokat is considered as one of the first settlements of humanity. The city is rich in tourist attractions. Tokat Castle in the center of the city and Zile, Niksar and Turhal Castles in its districts are frequented by local and foreign tourists. Latifoğlu Mansion Museum House, built in the 18th century in the Ottoman-Baroque style, Tokat Clock Tower, built in honor of the 25th anniversary of Abdulhamid II's ascension to the throne, and the Gök Madrasah, built in the 13th century is located in the city center. Yağıbasan Madrasah which is a continuation of the Nizamiye Madrasah tradition, is one of the cultural centers worth seeing.
Roman Period Arsenal
The floor of the Arsenal, located in Niksar city center, is covered with lime (Khorasan) mortar. There is a ventilation shaft on the ceiling which is approximately 4 m long. The entrances are decorated with a brickwork belt. The wall thickness is 1.20 m. In terms of its architectural texture, it is considered that it belongs to the 2nd-3rd centuries CE.
Yağıbasan Madrasah
Yağıbasan Madrasah (Yağıbasan Medresesi) are two madrasahs located in Tokat and Niksar. Yağıbasan Madrasah in Tokat is also known as Çukur Madrasah (Çukur Medrese). The madrasah, built in 1151 and 1152, is important in that it is one of the first examples of Anatolian madrasas with closed courtyards.
Ballıca Cave
Ballıca Cave Nature Park (Ballıca Mağarası Tabiat Parkı) is a natural heritage site that was listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2019. It is 7 kilometers south of Tokat Pazar district center. Ballıca Cave, whose age is determined as 3.4 million years, has a special position among its peers in the world. The entrance to the cave on the slope of a semi-rocky hill is provided by a partially smoothed bedrock block. The most important characteristic of the cave, whose walkable part is 94 meters high, is that it has "onion stalactite" formations. Another important feature of the cave is the presence of dwarf bats living in colonies.
Clock Tower
It was built for the 25th anniversary of Abdulhamid II's becoming the sultan. With large dials in four directions, the clock chimes every half hour and on the hour with two-minute intervals.
Tokat Castle
The Tokat Castle (Tokat Kalesi), which was established for road safety in the Roman Period, was under Byzantine rule for about 500 years. Conquered by Danişmend Melik Gazi for the first time in 1074, the castle passed into other hands at short intervals and passed under the rule of Danishmends, Seljuk, Ilkhanid, Eretna, Kadı Burhanettin and the Ottoman Empire, respectively. The castle, built on steep rocks, is a natural fortress.
Zile Castle
Zile Castle (Zile Kalesi), located in the center of Zile district, is a Roman castle built in ancient times on a mound, and has an acropolis feature. It can be seen from all over the city because it is located in the middle of the district center. The clock tower, which has lost its function, and other ruins can be seen inside the castle. Moreover, the water cistern of the castle is in its original appearance. There is also a small Roman period theater carved into the rocks to the northeast of the castle. It is narrated that the famous Commander Julius Caesar said the word "Veni Vidi Vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered) at the end of the war in Zile Castle.
Taşhan
Built in 1631, Taşhan is a great Ottoman work. There is a courtyard in the middle of the rectangular and two-storey inn. There are projects to turn the 112-room building into a hotel without spoiling its nostalgic character. Today, it is surrounded by cafes and shopping stores.
Yazmacılar Inn
Yazmacılar Inn (Yazmacılar Han), which was named as Gazioğlu Inn in the past, but changed its name in parallel to its special production in recent years, is one of the historical buildings you will see on the road while you are in Sulu street.
Tokat Mevlevi Lodge
The Mevlevi Lodge located in Soğukpınar Mahallesi was built in the 17th century. It is extremely flamboyant in terms of architecture. Spreading over an area of 3 thousand square meters, the Mevlevi Lodge is divided into three as ground, entrance and upper levels.
Mahperi Hatun Caravanserai
The courtyard and the closed part were built in 1238 according to the four-line thuluth line inscriptions on their portals. It is located on the caravan road connecting Konya to Sinop. The building consists of two parts, the summer part and the winter part. The summer part has a courtyard and a portico. The winter part is completely covered and covered with vaults on stanchions. The summer and winter parts are entered through portal doors with muqarnas hoods. The walls are covered with stone and supported externally by buttresses.
Arastalı Bedesten (Covered Bazaar) (Tokat Museum)
From the surviving ruins and historical sources, Arastalı Bedesten is estimated to be built in the 15th-16th centuries. Bedesten is the name given to all covered, sheltered bazaars for the sale of precious fabrics, jewelry and similar items. In the period they were built, they were both important economic institutions and substituted today's banks and stock exchanges. In Tokat Museum, which was opened on September 18, 2012, the archaeological artifacts are exhibited in the part of the building called covered bazaar.
Komana Ancient City
There were two temple states operating in the Hellenistic Period within the borders of today's Tokat which is in the inner parts of the Black Sea Region. The bigger one was Komana, a Cappadocia type temple dedicated to the Mother Goddess Ma. The Komana Temple State held police status and was used as a trade center by visitors from the surrounding area throughout the year. After the Kingdom of Pontus collapsed and Mitradates VI fled, Komana Temple State became a principality and was handed over to Archelaus by Pompey in the middle of the 1st century BCE. With the death of the last king Dyteutus, Komana was included in the Pontus Galaticus Region. By this time, the priests had significantly lost their power, but the temple maintained its function. The region was in the status of ager publicus for a while between the period of the Pontus Kings and the period of Emperor Maurice.
Gök Madrasah
This historical monument, which was used as a museum for many years, is one of the Seljuk works. The building is from the 13th (1277) century. It has the most distinctive features of Anatolian Seljuk architecture and art. Gök Madrasah (Gök Medrese) planned with 2 floors, 2 iwans, a courtyard whose middle is open and a portico, and has stone, tile and plaster decorations. The tile decoration is located on the courtyard facade. The walls of the main iwan and the arches of the upper storey porches are decorated with aubergine purple, dark blue and turquoise colored tiles and geometric and herbal ornaments.
Atatürk House
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk visited Tokat many times during the years of the national struggle and on his fourth visit, Kemal Atatürk and his wife Latife Hanım were guests on September 25, 1925 in this mansion, which belonged to his friend Piyade Yüzbaşı (Infantry Captain) Mustafa Vasfi SÜSOY from Tokat who was on the Bandırma Ferry and was also a deputy after the proclamation of the Republic. The mansion is open to visitors today as Atatürk House and Ethnography Museum (Atatürk Evi ve Etnografya Müzesi).
Latifoğlu Mansion Museum
Latifoğlu Mansion (Latifoğlu Konağı), located in the center of Tokat, is known to be built in 1746 in the Ottoman Baroque style. The two-storey mansion built on an "L" shaped plan with mud-brick filling material between frames. There is a square-planned pool in the stone-paved courtyard of the mansion. The mansion, whose rooms are around an "L" shaped anteroom, has a free plan concept.
Halit Street - Sulu Street
Sulu street, forming the old city center of Tokat and also the historical trade center of the city and the residential settlement integrated with it as well as Halit Street are important as they carry the traces of all civilizations that have been established in Tokat until today.
Bey Street – Beyhamam Street
The houses belonging to the Young Ottoman and Republic Periods located in the city center of Tokat, Bey Street and Beyhamam Street facing the street in two directions are examples of well-preserved civil architecture of Anatolia.
Garipler Mosque
Garipler Mosque (Garipler Cami) is known to be built in the last quarter of the 11th century (1080-1090). Garipler Mosque, located in the Pazarcık District of Tokat city center, is popularly known as the Yeşil Minareli Mosque due to the green glazed bricks in its minaret. It is the oldest mosque in Anatolia after the 1071 Malazgirt Victory.
Ulu Mosque
Ulu Mosque is one of the mosques that preserves its originality. It is exemplified in terms of its decorations and architectural intelligence. Ulu Mosque has become one of the frequently visited sightseeing spots as it hosts the birdhouse.
Bird House
Bird House (Kuş Evi), known to be built in the 12th century, is one of the oldest works of Tokat. The stone carved birdhouse on the wall of Ulu Mosque has been thought to be formed by the people's deep love for animals since ancient times.
Ali Paşa Mosque
Ali Pasha was from Bosnia and grew up in Enderun (special school in the ottoman palace). After serving in various palace duties, he served in Erzurum (3 times), Karaman, Baghdad, Sivas and Anatolian Beylerbeyliği (governor). Ali Pasha died on 2 June 1572 when he was the Governor of Erzurum. While Ali Pasha was the governor of Erzurum, upon the death of his son Mustafa Bey, he wanted to build a tomb and a mosque next to it in Tokat.
Deveciler Inn
Deveciler Inn (Deveciler Hanı), also known as Fatih Mehmet Paşa Inn, is located to the south of Takyeciler Mosque and to the west of Yağıbasan Madrasah. Considering the historical developments of the inn’s architecture and the muqarnas on the niches on both sides of the entrance door, the applied architecture and decoration techniques, it is estimated that the building was built in the period of Çelebi Mehmet (1413-1421) or his son Murat II (1421-1451), because it is known that there was an intense reconstruction activity in the region at that time. There are many works that have survived from the same period.
Maşat Tumulus
As a result of the excavations carried out in Maşat Tumulus (Maşat Höyük) between 1973 and 1984, cuneiform tablets belonging to the Hittites were found. It can be said that the historical artifacts unearthed here are the most important works that illuminate the history of Tokat. The tablets and items are exhibited in Tokat Museum. As a result of the studies carried out on the mound, it is understood that the Old Bronze Age was in 3000 BCE, the Hittite Age was in 2000 BCE, and the Phrygian Age was in 1000 BCE. The Hittite palatial architecture can easily be understood from the ruins here.
Sebastapolis Ancient City
Located in Sulusaray district center, the ancient city was built on a large mound whose history started in the Early Bronze Age. The foundation date of Sebastapolis (Sebastapolis Antik Kenti) is around the 1st century BCE. During the reign of Roman Emperor Traianus (C.E. 98 - 117), Pontus Galaticus separated from Polemoniacus states and was included in the state of Cappadocia. The inscription on this subject was erected by the notables and people of the city in the name of Arrian, the Governor of Cappadocia.
Sulusaray Hot springs
Sulusaray Hot springs, boiling among the ruins of Sebastapolis, is the most important hot spring in the region. The hot spring water, which is 55 C, has been defined as salty, sulphated-slightly bitter according to its minerals. Sulusaray Kaplıcası (Sulusaray Hot spring), heals those who suffer from rheumatic diseases.
Horoztepe
In Horoztepe, some graves dating back to 3000 BCE were found. Various "Burial gifts", the custom of the ancient people, were discovered. Metal and gold ornaments are exhibited in Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum. The most important sculpture among the unearthed works is the bronze sculpture of a woman breastfeeding her child.
Aktepe Tumulus
Aktepe Tumulus (Aktepe Höyüğü) near the town of Çamlıbel carries the heritage of the Bronze, Hittite and Phrygian Periods to the present.
Leylekli Bridge
Leylekli Bridge (Leylekli Köprü) is on Çanakçı stream, next to Arasta mosque. It is a Roman period work. It has a single arch and is in a semicircular shape. The stone on the arch keystone depicts a stork figure holding a snake in its beak.
