Of all the hot springs in Amasya, the one closest to the city, and therefore the easiest to reach, is the Gözlek spring. Rising beside the village of Gözlek, in the central district southwest of the provincial capital, its water is a place of rest where local people drop in at weekends or even for an afternoon, and where visitors to the city can comfortably fit a call into a day's sightseeing. The distance from the city is given in the sources as anything between 15 and 23 kilometres, the difference depending on the point in town and the road from which it is measured. Faruk Aylar, who has studied the geography of the area, places the facilities 15 kilometres southwest of the provincial centre, local tourism guides take the 22nd kilometre of the Amasya-Göynücek road as their reference, and village inventories give 23 kilometres. Whichever figure one adopts, it is this proximity above all that sets Gözlek apart from the other thermal centres of the province, such as Terziköy, Ilısu and Hamamözü.

The spring has been known and used for a long time, but its transformation into a thermal resort with today's hotel and pools is fairly recent. Given a new face in 2005, when its management passed to the private sector and the facilities were renovated, Gözlek soon became one of the best-known spas of the central Black Sea region. The water itself is a geothermal resource that has been studied in detail through the boreholes, chemical analyses and geophysical surveys of the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA).

The Village of Gözlek and Its Surroundings

Gözlek is a small village in the central district of Amasya, lying at an altitude of about 508 metres. In records from 1926 its name appears as "Gözlek" or "Güzlek". The spring is sometimes also called "Gözlek Hamamı" or "Gözhöyük Kaplıcası" in local usage. The village population has fallen markedly in recent decades: from 606 in 1985 it dropped to 381 in 1990 and 310 in 2000, and in the 2020s it has hovered between 160 and 180. The trend matches the general pattern of migration from rural Amasya; the accommodation and service work that has grown up around the spring, meanwhile, makes a small but steady contribution to the village economy.

The village lies within the Geldingen Plain, one of the most fertile lowlands of Amasya. The spa grounds are therefore surrounded by intensively farmed land, with the fields, orchards and irrigation channels of the plain reaching right up to the edge of the facilities. According to Aylar, the climate and soils would allow a natural forest cover to grow here, but biotic factors such as human activity and grazing have largely cleared the woodland, and the most heavily degraded areas have turned into steppe. On the plain, where the water table is high, and along the nearby Çekerek River, stands of poplar, willow, oleaster, tamarisk and plane trees can be seen, while on the more degraded slopes steppe plants such as milkvetch, mullein, thyme and thistle spread. An older source also records that the spring lies in a marshy area beside the Çekerek, a description that is not surprising given the flat and well-watered character of the plain.

The immediate surroundings of Gözlek are also of archaeological interest. Some two kilometres northwest of the village, on the western edge of the Geldingen Plain, rises Oluz Höyük. This round mound, standing about 15 metres above the plain, was identified during surface surveys led by Şevket Dönmez in 1997-1999, and excavation began in 2007. The digs have revealed a stratigraphy reaching from the Early Bronze Age through the Hittite period, the Iron Age levels under Persian influence and the Hellenistic era down to the Middle Ages. Lying a few kilometres north of the Çekerek River, which is thought to appear in Hittite texts under the name Zuliya, the settlement shows that the Gözlek plain has been inhabited for thousands of years. There is, however, no firm evidence as to when, in this long history, the spring water was first noticed and put to use.

Location and Access

Gözlek lies close to the D-100 highway, which links Eastern Anatolia with the Black Sea and Marmara regions. Aylar stresses that this location has been decisive in the development of the spa: it sits in the middle of populous centres such as Amasya, Çorum, Tokat and Samsun, right beside a main road. The distances from the facilities to nearby towns make the picture clear. According to the figures given by Aylar, Gözlek is 40 kilometres from Suluova, 42 from Mecitözü, 60 from Turhal and Merzifon, 65 from Taşova, 75 from Çorum, 90 from Erbaa, 100 from Tokat, 140 from Samsun and 185 from Yozgat. Its distance to Samsun Airport is given as 120 kilometres, and to Amasya-Merzifon Airport as around 70 kilometres.

The central district to which the spa belongs administratively is bordered by Mecitözü and Çorum to the west, Merzifon and Suluova to the north, Turhal and Tokat to the south, and Taşova and Erbaa to the east. Thanks to this position the spring is as easily reached by visitors from the neighbouring provinces as by the people of Amasya. The road running south from central Amasya towards Göynücek is the main route to the spa. The relative proximity of Hittite sites in Çorum province such as Alacahöyük, Hattusa and Yazılıkaya has also led groups on cultural tours to use Gözlek as a stop for an overnight stay and a rest.

Geology and the Source of the Water

The hot water of Gözlek owes its existence to the tectonic structure of the region and the layering of the ground. The Geldingen Plain, in which the spring lies, is a graben, a plain that has subsided along faults in relation to its surroundings. Its limits are formed by the watershed of the Çakır Mountains to the north, Kırlar and Karadağ to the west, Buzluk Dağı to the south, and the Sakarat and Sarıtaş mountains to the east. The Çekerek River, which drains roughly three quarters of the plain, together with the Mecitözü stream and the Çorum stream, has cut its valley under the control of the tectonic structure; the behaviour of these rivers is regarded as one of the signs that crustal movement in the area is still active.

At the bottom of the plain lie Palaeozoic schists. Above this basement extend recrystallised massive limestones of the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous. These are in turn overlain unconformably by a nummulitic flysch series of Eocene age, made up of alternating conglomerate, sandstone, marl and clay. At the top lies a widespread cover of Quaternary alluvium. According to the MTA's geothermal inventory of 2005, the reservoir rocks in which the hot fluid accumulates are these recrystallised massive limestones. The water rises to the surface along a fault line concealed beneath the alluvium.

Movements in different geological periods produced not only folds in the plain but also a large number of fracture lines. These generally run northwest-southeast and northeast-southwest, with east-west fractures appearing in places. The most important of them are the Gökhöyük, Gözlek and Kırkgöz faults. The Gözlek fault, which runs almost through the middle of the plain, splits into two branches near the geothermal field. The northern branch extends west towards the village of Toklucak, and further west the valley of the Efennik stream has settled along this line. The southern branch turns southwest from the vicinity of the spa. Hidden beneath the alluvium, this fault is of great importance both for the rise of the hot water and for the groundwater regime of the plain. The project documents of a geothermal exploration scheme launched in 2025 within the boundaries of Oluz village, meanwhile, put forward the view that the 38-degree hot water near Gözlek is connected with the Ezinepazar fault.

Boreholes and Geophysical Surveys

Today the water of Gözlek is drawn from boreholes rather than from a natural spring. The MTA drilled three wells in the area, in 1988, 1989 and 1991. The first of these is the most productive: in 1988 water was reached at a depth of 398 metres, emerging at a temperature of 40.5 degrees and a flow rate of 10.5 litres per second. The 1989 and 1991 boreholes went down as far as 530 metres but struck only very weak flows of 0.1 and 0.8 litres per second. In one of the wells the water rises by itself, artesian fashion; in the others it is pumped.

After the drilling, geophysical methods were used to understand the source better. As part of a paid hot-water survey carried out on behalf of the Governorship of Amasya, high-resolution seismic measurements, self-potential and radon gas studies were conducted around Gözlek between 25 March and 8 May 1991. The team set up camp at Terziköy and, taking the previously drilled G1 and G2 wells as reference, laid out five profiles with a total length of 8,265 metres. The aim was to reveal the tectonic structure, determine the position of the faults and of the fault carrying the hot water, and locate the site for a new borehole. Radon measurements are among the main methods used to find faults and fractures at shallow depth; the weak zones through which hot water is carried upward betray themselves where the gas is concentrated.

Interest in the potential of the source continues today. In 2025 a geothermal exploration and drilling project was launched in Oluz village, just west of Gözlek, over a licence area of about 10,776 hectares. Cleared by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change with an "EIA not required" decision and licensed by the Provincial Special Administration, the project aims to drill to a depth of around 1,000 metres and to use the heat obtained in energy and agriculture. Once these studies are complete, much more detailed information on the hot-water resources of the Geldingen Plain can be expected.

Temperature and Chemical Composition of the Water

The temperature of the Gözlek water appears in the sources as figures that are close to one another but not identical. According to the drilling data, the water from the first well is 40.5 degrees. Provincial promotional information from 2007 gives the temperature of the water at the facility as 39.5 degrees, a review from 2010 as 38.5 degrees, and recent promotions speak of a temperature between 38 and 40 degrees. The small differences may be attributed to whether the measurement was taken at the wellhead or in the pool, and to changes in the yield of the wells over the years. In any case the water is a warm-to-hot water slightly above body temperature, one in which a bather can stay for a long time.

The 1989 analysis included in the MTA inventory sets out the composition of the water in detail. According to this analysis the pH of the water is 7.94, giving it a slightly alkaline character. Its electrical conductivity is 480 micromhos per centimetre and its evaporation residue 326 milligrams per litre. Among the cations, sodium is far ahead at 86 milligrams per litre, followed by 16 milligrams of calcium, 6 milligrams of magnesium and 3.6 milligrams of potassium. Among the anions the decisive one is bicarbonate: alongside 224 milligrams of bicarbonate per litre there are 12 milligrams of carbonate, 32 milligrams of sulphate and 14 milligrams of chloride. A litre of the water was also found to contain 20 milligrams of silica, 1.3 milligrams of fluoride, 0.4 milligrams of boron and 4.1 milligrams of dissolved carbon dioxide, while the values for ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, iodide and arsenic remained below the detection limit.

These figures place Gözlek in the group of sodium bicarbonate waters, and Aylar too assesses the spa within this class. On the question of the water's suitability for therapeutic use, however, a discrepancy between the sources stands out. Aylar cites the criteria of the International Federation of Thermalism (FITEL) and of the Ministry of Health's spa regulations, according to which spa water must be above 20 degrees in temperature and contain at least one gram of dissolved minerals per litre. Aylar writes that Gözlek easily meets the temperature criterion, falling under his own classification among waters in the 20-50 degree range, and concludes that the water is also suitable for treatment in terms of its mineral content. Yet the analysis table reproduced in the same study gives an evaporation residue of 326 milligrams per litre, well below one gram. A 1987 report by the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Ankara University's İbn-i Sina Hospital likewise classifies the waters of Terziköy, Gözlek, Ilısu and Hamamözü as "oligo-mineral waters", that is, waters of low mineral concentration. In this light, describing the Gözlek water as a thermal water valuable for its temperature and chemical balance but not high in mineral concentration appears more consistent with the available data.

Some older promotional texts also state that the Gözlek water "contains abundant sulphur". In the analysis table, however, the only sulphur compound shown is 32 milligrams of sulphate per litre, and no value is given for hydrogen sulphide. The widespread belief that the water is sulphurous therefore cannot be confirmed by the published analyses.

Effects on Health

Much of the information on the benefits of the Gözlek water rests on popular experience and on the promotional material of the facilities. Rheumatic complaints come first among them. The water is also believed to help relieve the tension and stress of daily life; the relaxing effect of warm water on the muscles is the main reason visitors say they feel refreshed in both body and mind. The promotions add post-operative immobility, back and joint pain, and soft-tissue problems to these.

Aylar, stating that this has been established through clinical practice, writes that the water is suitable for use in treating above all stomach and intestinal complaints, as well as psoriasis, gynaecological conditions, skin diseases, rheumatism of the joints, general stress disorders and post-operative recovery. The 1987 university report makes a joint assessment of the four spas of Amasya: these waters are reported to regulate the autonomic nervous system, balance high and low blood pressure, soothe irritability, have sedative and analgesic effects, give good results in neuralgia and especially sciatica, and to be effective in degenerative joint diseases and certain gynaecological conditions. The report also records that they relieve asthma attacks and some skin diseases. It should be borne in mind that this assessment deals with the four sources together and is not a separate clinical study specific to Gözlek.

The same studies particularly stress that spa treatment should be carried out under medical supervision. Aylar observes that most of those who come to Gözlek for treatment bathe in cycles of seven or twenty-one days, guided by popular belief and without knowing which ailment the water helps and to what extent. Although many sources limit a bath to thirty minutes, there are quite a few who stay in the pool for more than an hour. The absence of a doctor or physiotherapy centre at the facility means that the cures people apply on their own can at times do more harm than good. Informing visitors about spa treatment is therefore important, and those with chronic conditions in particular should take the cure under the supervision of a specialist.

The Development of the Thermal Facilities

Although there are no detailed records of the earlier use of Gözlek, the water was a source long known to and used by the surrounding villages. Its transformation into a spa business in the modern sense, however, came after the late 1980s, when the boreholes were drilled. Provincial promotional information from 2007 describes the Gözlek Thermal Facility as a two-star establishment: alongside a cafeteria, restaurant, indoor swimming pool, private cabins, Turkish bath and cure baths, it had a hotel of 17 rooms and 34 beds and four apartments, bringing the total number of beds to 42. The facility also had a picnic area.

In a review from 2010 the facility is still two-star and holds a spa operating licence from the Ministry of Health. At this time thermal water was used in the bathrooms of 16 rooms, 4 apartments and 7 combined apartments, and separate thermal pools for women, men and children, Turkish baths and family cabins were in service. Besides two restaurants there were arbours for those wishing to barbecue and a small animal park. Aylar's study, published in 2014, lists apartments and bungalows, an open-air swimming pool, thermal pools, a salt room, sports facilities and a picnic area in addition to the hotel. He notes that the facility is run by a private company and that the restaurant and cafeteria sections were also redesigned after the 2005 renovation.

In recent years the facility has been promoted as a three-star hotel. Holding a spa operating certificate from the Ministry of Health and a tourism operating certificate from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the hotel is reported to have 45 rooms including family rooms and apartments, with a capacity of 102 beds. Thermal water is supplied to the rooms and apartments through mini pools, showers and baths. Separate thermal pools for women and men, Turkish baths, steam and salt rooms are open both to overnight guests and to day visitors. The Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism also lists Gözlek, together with Terziköy and Hamamözü, among the important thermal centres in the province's tourism inventory.

Seasons and Visitors

Visitor movement at Gözlek is largely determined by the climate. The spa lies in a climatic zone drier than the Black Sea coast, defined as the transitional belt behind the Black Sea. According to data from the Amasya meteorological station for 1970-2012, the mean annual temperature is 13.5 degrees; the warmest month is July with an average of 23.6 degrees, and the coldest January with 2.4 degrees. Mean annual precipitation is about 443 millimetres, and the wettest seasons are spring and winter: 33.1 per cent of the total falls in spring, 32.3 per cent in winter, 21.3 per cent in autumn and only 13.3 per cent in summer. The wettest months are December with 56 millimetres and April with 55.6 millimetres, and the driest is August with 6.4 millimetres.

The season at the spa opens in May, as the weather warms and rainfall decreases; the busiest days come in July and August, the hottest and driest months. From December, when the weather turns noticeably colder, the crowds thin out. According to averages for 2005-2013 compiled from the records of the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, the facility recorded some 8,700 domestic and around 2,000 foreign overnight stays a year. Domestic overnight stays peaked at 1,350 in August, while foreign visitors came mostly in January, July and August, and in some spring months no foreign guests were received at all.

Aylar draws attention to the fact that the facility is chosen as much for day trips and weekend rest as for treatment. A large proportion of visitors are middle-income families living nearby, and most of them use only the day services without staying overnight. In the summer months the bed capacity falls short of demand, while the predominance of day use limits the income of the business. The practice of national and international tour companies of starting their Black Sea tours from Amasya and spending the first night there has also brought the thermal facilities of Gözlek and Terziköy within reach of those taking part in these tours.

Gözlek as a Place of Rest

Besides its hot water, what gives Gözlek a value of its own is that it is a place of rest set in the plain, away from noise, in the quiet of the countryside. Resting for a while in the open air after a hot bath and walking among the orchards and fields are among the habits most loved by those who come to the spa. Thanks to its closeness to the city, Gözlek is a stop that can easily be made after a short trip among the apple orchards of Amasya or a day spent in the historic streets of the town. A visitor who has toured the rock tombs, Harşena Castle and the riverside houses along the Yeşilırmak can shake off the day's fatigue in the warm pools of Gözlek the same afternoon.

Nevertheless, certain shortcomings of the spa grounds have not escaped researchers' attention. Aylar writes that because of the intensive agricultural use of the land around the facilities and the climatic conditions there is not enough green space, and that the area, which local people also use for picnics and outings, needs tree planting and better landscaping. The same study notes problems in carrying used water away from the facilities, shortages of drinking and service water in the peak season, and insufficient attention to the cleanliness of the surroundings. Weak promotion and marketing are also seen as an obstacle to the full use of the spa's potential. Among Aylar's recommendations are the opening of new accommodation, an increase in shops to meet visitors' daily needs, and the more systematic inclusion of the facility in tours to Hittite sites and in Black Sea tour programmes.

Gözlek Among the Other Spas of Amasya

Gözlek is one link in Amasya's chain of hot springs. After Gözlek, the thermal centre nearest the city, comes Terziköy in the district of Göynücek; lying between 32 and 36 kilometres from the city and about 20 kilometres from Gözlek, Terziköy, with its 39.5-degree water and extensive facilities, is the best-known spa in the province. The spring at Ilısu village, also in Göynücek, is 63 kilometres from the city, and for a long time there were no accommodation facilities at all beside its 25-degree water. The Arkut Bey spa at Hamamözü, 90 kilometres from the centre, stands out as the hottest source in the province with its 42.5-degree water and natural bathhouse. The central district also has the Hamam spa, about 25 kilometres south of the city between the villages of Misak and Çivi, which is said to have similar properties.

Aylar notes that the complete renovation of the Terziköy facilities through private investment, together with Gözlek, marked an important step for Amasya on the way to becoming a thermal attraction in the region, and that the value the two facilities add to the provincial economy is growing every year. The diversity of these sources, each with its own temperature and properties, gives Amasya a privileged position in health tourism. Within this series Gözlek, with its closeness to the city, its position on a main road and its water of relatively moderate temperature, is an easy choice both for a short rest and for a cure of several days.

Chronology

1926: The village's name appears in the records as "Gözlek" or "Güzlek".

1987: A report by the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Ankara University's İbn-i Sina Hospital classifies the waters of Terziköy, Gözlek, Ilısu and Hamamözü as oligo-mineral waters.

1988: The MTA's first borehole reaches water at a depth of 398 metres, at a temperature of 40.5 degrees and a flow rate of 10.5 litres per second.

1989: The second borehole is drilled; a detailed chemical analysis of the water is carried out.

1991: The third borehole is drilled; between 25 March and 8 May, seismic, self-potential and radon surveys are conducted on behalf of the Governorship of Amasya.

1997-1999: Oluz Höyük, northwest of the village, is identified in surface surveys.

2005: Management of the spa passes to the private sector and the facilities are renovated.

2007: Provincial promotional information lists Gözlek as a two-star thermal facility with 42 beds; excavations begin at Oluz Höyük.

2010: The facility, licensed as a spa by the Ministry of Health, has 16 rooms, 4 apartments and 7 combined apartments.

2014: Faruk Aylar's geographical study of the Gözlek spa is published.

2025: A geothermal exploration and drilling project covering the hot water near Gözlek is launched in Oluz village.

Bibliography

Academic studies

  • Aylar, Faruk. "Orta Karadeniz'de Yeni Gelişen Bir Termal Turizm Merkezi: Gözlek Kaplıcası (Amasya)". Doğu Coğrafya Dergisi, 19/32 (2014), pp. 261-276.
  • Zeybek, H. İ. Amasya Ovası ve Yakın Çevresinin Fiziki Coğrafyası. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun 1998 (cited after Aylar).

Official sources

  • "Kaplıca Diyarı Amasya". İHA news report, 6 January 2007 (information from the Governorship of Amasya and the 1987 university report).

Other sources

  • MTA. Türkiye Jeotermal Kaynakları Envanteri. General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration, Inventory Series 201, Ankara 2005.
  • Gürer, Abdullah; Lezgi, Ahmet; Yenigün, Hasan. Amasya-Gözlek Kaplıcası Sismik Etüt Raporu. MTA, Report No. 9200.
  • Karaalioğlu, B. Geldingen Ovası Hidrojeolojik Etüt Raporu. DSİ 7th Regional Directorate, Samsun 1983 (cited after Aylar).
  • "Türkiye'nin Kaplıcaları 2010: Karadeniz". Hürriyet Seyahat, 2010. hurriyet.com.tr
  • "Amasya'daki Şifalı Sular ve Kaplıcalar". Termal Rehber. termalrehber.com
  • "Amasya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü". Türkiye Turizm Ansiklopedisi.
  • "Geothermal resource exploration and drilling operations start in Amasya, Türkiye". ThinkGeoEnergy, 17 March 2025. thinkgeoenergy.com
  • "Oluz Höyük" and "Gözlek, Amasya" articles. Turkish Wikipedia (village population, altitude and the 1926 records, cited after Nişanyan, Index Anatolicus).
  • Promotional page for the Gözlek thermal hotels, tatilhatti.com; Amasya spas, Sabah.

Online sources