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Samsun isn’t very impressive as a city. It’s short on star attractions and there’s not much reason for tourists to visit, but it does have a few points of interest if you find yourself passing through.
Republic Square
A good place to start exploring the city is the wide-open Republic Square (Cumhuriyet Meydanı), Samsun’s main square. It features several modern buildings, a mosque, and a market.
Veterans Museum
The Veterans Museum (Gazi Müzesi), chronicling Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938) and the Turkish War of Independence, is on a street behind the square. The building was originally the Mantika Palace (Mantika Palas), a hotel that opened in 1902. Atatürk stayed there during his four visits to the city between 1919 and 1930. In 1924, it was gifted to him as a home, and it opened as a museum in 1940. It’s open daily and admission is free (as of September 2024).
Architecture
North of the square there are just a couple of interesting buildings that caught my eye. One is the old Imperial Ottoman Bank (Banque Imperiale Ottomane) building, which now houses a branch of Garanti Bank (Garanti Bankası). The other is the Old Municipality Building (Eski Belediye Binası), built in 1911.
Clock Tower
The Samsun Clock Tower (Samsun Saat Kulesi) sits in the center of a small square. It was built in 1886 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the ascension of Sultan Abdulhamid II to the throne.
Kefeli Mosque
There are only a few mosques of interest. The first is the tiny Kefeli Mosque (Kefeli Camii), a short walk south of Republic Square. It has two minarets – one tall and one short.
Grand Mosque
Next is the Grand Mosque (Büyük Camii). It sits on the site of the old Samsun Castle (Samsun Kalesi), a Byzantine castle built in 1192 but demolished between 1908 and 1918. Some of the old castle walls are visible near the mosque.
Yalı Mosque
Finally, there’s the Yalı Mosque (Yalı Camii), built in 1312. It used to sit right on the Black Sea, but the land in front of it was reclaimed.
City Streets
The rest of the streets in the city aren’t very exciting to wander down. It’s just a big city lacking beauty.
Waterfront Parks
I guess one good thing about Samsun is the amount of parkland situated near the waterfront. It gives the city a nice contrast to the ugly port on the Black Sea. There are numerous green spaces I walked through, many which were under construction. One was Atatürk Park (Atatürk Parkı).
Scattered throughout the parks are monuments, an international trade building, a huge hotel, the archaeology and ethnographic museum, and government buildings. A replica of the SS Bandırma which brought Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk) from Constantinople to Samsun sits in one of the parks. You can even find some beaches.
