Farhad and Shirin Monument ( tr, Ferhat ile Şirin Heykeli) is a monument atop a rocky hill in

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey and is the capital of Amasya Province, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th e ...

, northern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

dedicated to the story about the tragic romance between

Farhad and Shirin Khosrow and Shirin ( fa, خسرو و شیرین) is the title of a famous tragic romance by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209), who also wrote Layla and Majnun. It tells a highly elaborated fictional version of the story of the love ...

. The monument, erected by December 2012, features the bronze statues of Ferhat with a

crowbar A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially, in Britain and Australia sometimes called a jemmy or jimmy (also called jemmy bar), gooseneck, or pig foot, is a tool ...

in his hand and Şirin about to jump down from the hilltop to commit suicide. The statues are tall.

The legend

The legend of Ferhat and Shirin is the

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

n version of ''

Khosrow and Shirin Khosrow and Shirin ( fa, خسرو و شیرین) is the title of a famous tragic romance by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209), who also wrote Layla and Majnun. It tells a highly elaborated fictional version of the story of the love ...

'', the famous tragic love story by the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209). The folkloric tale is about the young

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

ist

Farhad Farhad ( fa, فرهاد ''farhād''), also spelt Ferhaad or Ferhod, has been a Persian name for men since the Parthians, first recorded for Arsacid kings circa 170 BC. Etymology Modern Persian name ''Farhād'' () is derived from Middle Persian '' ...

, who decorates mansions. He falls in love with Armenian princess Shirin as he was commissioned to decorate her villa, which was built by Şirin's sister Mehmene Banu, the female ruler of Amasya. Ferhat asks the ruler to give Şirin in marriage. Unwilling to agree, she demands that Ferhat has to bring water to the town from a far distance spring by digging a water tunnel in the nearby mountain. Ferhat digs the rocks with a crowbar. As the ruler learns that Ferhat is proceeding successfully, she sends a

hag HAG is a Swiss maker of model trains. The company was founded by Hugo and Alwin Gahler on 1 April 1944 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The Gahler brothers originally manufactured model trains in O scale but due to competition, particularly by Märk ...

to Ferhat to tell him that Şirin has died. Upon the sad message, Ferhat throws his crowbar in the air, which hits his head while falling down. As Şirin learns about the incident, she rushes to the site, witnesses her lover is dead, and commits suicide by jumping down from the hilltop.

References

{{Amasya District 2012 establishments in Turkey Monuments and memorials in Turkey Amasya Buildings and structures completed in 2012 Colossal statues in Turkey Bronze sculptures in Turkey Outdoor sculptures in Turkey 21st-century architecture in Turkey Monuments and memorials completed in the 2010s