Samsun

Not to be confused with Samsung.

Samsun is a city in northern Turkey next to the Black Sea. About 700,000 people live in Samsun.

History

Founded in the 7th century BCE, Amisus thrived as the foremost Milesian colony on the Euxine (Black) Sea, second only to Sinope (modern Sinop). Following Alexander the Great’s conquest of Asia Minor (Anatolia) in the 4th century BCE, Amisus fell under the dominion of the kings of Pontus, enjoying prosperity until its defenders set it ablaze upon its capture by the Romans in 71 BCE.

Known as Amisos during the Byzantine era, the city was rechristened Samsun by the Seljuq Turks when they seized control in the latter half of the 12th century. Under Seljuq governance, it surpassed Sinope as a pivotal hub for trade between Europe and Central Asia, hosting a significant Genoese trading enclave. Annexed by the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I at the close of the 14th century, it later reverted to the Turkmen Candar principality following the Ottoman defeat at the hands of the conqueror Timur (Tamerlane) in 1402. The city suffered incineration by the Genoese prior to its recapture by the Ottomans in 1425.

The landing of Mustafa Kemal (later known as Atatürk) at Samsun on May 19, 1919, to orchestrate national resistance, marked the commencement of the Turkish War of Independence and foreshadowed the establishment of the republic in 1923.