Illustration 1. Amasya c. 1915, probably before the great fire. Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress. Amasya is a town in the Pontic mountains of present-day northern Turkey, roughly 80 km southwest of the Black Sea port of Samsun, and the capital of a vilayet/ilçe of the same name (Illustration 1). It preserves the name of Amaseia, under which it was known in antiquity. Amasya is situated on the main branch of the Yeşil Irmak (ancient Iris River) above the confluence of the Tersakan Çay, c. 400