Cultural life in Amasya carries the inheritance of a city that lived for centuries alongside a princely court and its madrasas. Calligraphers, illuminators and musicians trained around the court shaped the city's artistic tradition, while the craftsmen of the market, the weavers of the villages and the folk musicians who played and sang at weddings sustained the culture of everyday life. This section treats both together: the arts that grew from court and madrasa, and the oral traditions of the people.
Among the articles on art history are City of the Pen: Calligraphy in Amasya, Şeyh Hamdullah and Mustafa Dede, Amasya and the Art of the Miniature, Sufi Lodge Music and the Zikr Tradition in Amasya and Healing through Music in Amasya. On the side of folk culture are The Folklore of Amasya, Folk Songs and Uzun Hava of Amasya, The Âşık Tradition in Amasya, The Amasya Dialect and Local Idioms and Meddah and Karagöz in Amasya. Customs tied to the turning points of life and to the calendar, such as weddings and henna nights, birth and childhood, circumcision and the kirvelik bond, funerals, Nevruz and Hıdrellez, Muharram and aşure, are described in separate articles.
Crafts make up a large part of the section: copperwork, felt-making, block printing, Erhani silverwork, needle lace and the Yassıçal woollen cloth registered as a geographical indication are among them. Articles on the story of Ferhat and Şirin, the Amazon tradition and the legend of Kurtboğan show how local memory has attached itself to the city's buildings and places. Articles on modern artists from Amasya, among them the Yeşilçam film director Muharrem Gürses and the classical Turkish music singer Perihan Altındağ Sözeri, also belong here.