Black Sea Cruise -- Amasra

After 9 days in the 3rd largest city in the world, our first stop was to tiny Amasra (population 7,000; Istanbul has nearly 2000 times more people.)  We weren't the first.  Foreigners have been traveling here and many have stayed since at least the 15th century BC including Ghaskas, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Genoans, and, of course, the Ottomans.  (DoubleClick on these words to review your history.)

Nor are we the first to sing this spot's praises: A bard named Homer started long before the Wiki writers of the West put digits to screen.

The Rocca

A Fortress Harbor made from limestone folds

To a certain extent, geology has dictated history. The nearly vertical Cretaceous limestone cliffs form a harbor easy to fortify -- but such steep rises also kept the Roman road from reaching here.  Therefore access was only from the sea. Some archeologists postulate that the Byzantines fortified the harbor and protected its entrance with a chain so that they could base some of their fleet here.

Archeology Museum

The Hall of Statues: everything but the head in the sand

All that traffic for all those years gives tiny Amasra a lot of stuff to keep in its archeology museum, including these statues unearthed while digging a hole for a septic tank in 1993.  Chances are they were buried to keep them from being destroyed by 4th century Christians who were out to obliterate all traces of the area's pagan past.

Click here to see many more Amasra Pictures from this trip Click here to see our next stop: Amasya, Turkey (R you confused! Y do I ask) Click here to see our previous stop: Bosporus