Taşova is a town in

Amasya Province Amasya Province () is a province of Turkey, situated on the Yeşil River in the Black Sea Region to the north of the country. Its area is 5,628 km2, and its population is 338,267 (2022). The provincial capital is Amasya, the antique ''Amase ...

of the central

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 ...

region of

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 ...

. It is the seat of

Taşova District Taşova District is a district of Amasya Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town Taşova.İ ...

.İlçe Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 January 2023. Its population is 11,248 (2021). The altitude of the town is 230 meters. The mayor is Bayram Öztürk ( AKP). Taşova stands on a green and fertile plain, on the banks of the River Yeşilırmak.

Climate

Taşova has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Csa'').

History

The first of many cultures and civilisations to settle on the plain were the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

who by 1650 BC were spread throughout

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 ...

. Then came the

Phrygians The Phrygians (Greek: Φρύγες, ''Phruges'' or ''Phryges'') were an ancient Indo-European speaking people who inhabited central-western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) in antiquity. Ancient Greek authors used "Phrygian" as an umbrella term t ...

(1200 - 700 BC),

Cimmerians The Cimmerians were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into W ...

Medes The Medes were an Iron Age Iranian peoples, Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media (region), Media between western Iran, western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, they occupied the m ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ns. The

Ancient Macedonians The Macedonians (, ) were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, Axios in the northeastern part of Geography of Greece#Mainland, mainland Greece. Essentially an Ancient Greece, ancient ...

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

came to Anatolia in 331 BC and upon their dispersal rule of the

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol ...

region including Taşova passed to the Kings of

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

(in 291 BC), who remained in control until the arrival of the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

. The plain was part of the Roman Empire until 395 AD and for centuries more belonged to

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

. The

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

armies of early

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

came through in 712. Following the victory of the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

over Byzantium at

Malazgirt Malazgirt (; ; ), historically known as Manzikert (), is a town in Muş Province in Turkey. It is the seat of Malazgirt District.Danishmend The Danishmendids or Danishmends () were a Turkish dynasty. These terms also refer to the Turkish state in Anatolia. It existed from 1071/1075 to 1178 and is also known as the Danishmendid Beylik (). The dynasty was centered originally around Siv ...

lords in 1075, who were based in nearby

. The area was taken over by the Seljuk lord Kılıçarslan II in 1174, and following much more invasion and warfare was finally brought within the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1425. Under the Ottomans the plain Taşova remained a rural village with a Turkish population. The village was attacked by Greek bandits at the beginning of the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

but these were pushed out of the area by the newly formed Turkish army.

Economy

The local economy depends on agriculture and has suffered recently from the closure of the tobacco factory.

References

External links

Local news website, having a photograph section
Populated places in Amasya Province District municipalities in Turkey Taşova District {{Amasya-geo-stub