Çorum Province
Çorum () is a province in the Black Sea Region of Turkey, but lying inland and having more characteristics of Central Anatolia than the Black Sea coast. Its area is 12,428 km2, and its population is 524,130 (2022). Its provincial capital ...
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, located 59 km north of the city of Çorum. It is the seat of
Osmancık District
Osmancık District is a district of the Çorum Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Osmancık.İlçe Belediyesi Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023. Its population is 30,537 (2022).
Geography
Located on an important crossing of the
Kızılırmak River
The Kızılırmak (, Turkish language, Turkish for "Red River"), once known as the Halys River () and Alis River, is the longest river flowing entirely within Turkey. It is a source of hydroelectric power and is not used for navigation.
Geogra ...
on the ancient
Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...
to the Orient, Osmancık has long had strategic value and is still today a popular stopping place on the road from
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
to the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
city of
Samsun
Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...
and further east.
Today, Osmancık is known for its rice production, being especially suitable for a new strain of rice developed specifically for the region by the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and named "Osmancık-97."
The North Anatolian Fault zone runs through the valley, making Osmancık highly vulnerable to earthquakes.
The town consists of 18 quarters: Gemici, Güney, Kızılırmak, Ulucami, Yazı, Yeni, Yeşilçatma, Şenyurt, Gürleyik, Temençe, Karapınar, Çiftlikler, Cumhuriyet, Çay, Esentepe, Eymir, Hıdırlık, and Koyunbaba.Mahalle Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
Climate
History
The area was settled by the Kayı clan of the
Oghuz Turks
The Oghuz Turks ( Middle Turkic: , ) were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia ...
as they migrated westward into
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
from their heartland of Central Asia. Osmancık was one of the important destinations in the Ottoman period. Because of several earthquakes, the city could not preserve its ancient architecture. In the last century, there have been four or five major earthquakes. Being on the path of the Kızılırmak River made the city an important settlement point since early history. Osmancık was known as Pimolisa during the Roman and Byzantine eras. From 1867 until 1922, Osmancık was part of the
Angora vilayet
The Vilayet of Angora () or Ankara was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, centered on the city of Angora (Ankara) in north-central Anatolia, which included most of ancient Galatia.
Demographics
At the beginni ...
Catherine I of Russia
Catherine I Alekseyevna Mikhailova (born Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya; – ) was the second wife and Empress consort of Peter the Great, whom she succeeded as Empress of Russia, ruling from 1725 until her death in 1727.
Life as a servant
Onl ...
*General Ahmet Çörekçi, Former Head Commander of
Turkish Air Force
The Turkish Air Force () is the Air force, air and space force of the Turkish Armed Forces. It traces its origins to 1 June 1911 when it was founded as the Ottoman Aviation Squadrons, Aviation Squadrons by the Ottoman Empire. It was composed ...
*
Gürkan Coşkun
Gürkan Coşkun (1941 – 22 September 2022) or more widely known as Komet was a Turkish painter.
Coşkun was born in Çorum in 1941. After attending İstanbul State Academy of Fine Arts between the years 1960 and 1967, he moved to Paris in 1 ...
*In the village of Ardıç, to the west of Osmancık, there is a road cut by the
Ancient Romans
The Roman people was the ethnicity and the body of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens
(; ) during the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. This concept underwent considerable changes throughout the long history of the Roman ...
through a rock named Çalınkaya
* Koyunbaba Bridge over the Kızılırmak, built in 1489
*The Seljuk Turk castle of Kandiber, in the town center
* İmaret Camii, an historical mosque, built by Selijuk Turks in the Güney Quarter
*The Ottoman period tomb of
Sufi
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
mystic Koyunbaba
*The Trojan war hero
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...
was said to have been finally buried on the hill of Adatepe