The Arkut Bey hot springs lie in the centre of Hamamözü, the westernmost district of Amasya, at an elevation of about 640 metres. They are 90 to 95 kilometres from the provincial capital, roughly 40 kilometres from Çorum and Merzifon, and 21 to 23 kilometres from Gümüşhacıköy. Sources call the place Arkut Bey, Arkıtbey or the Arkut Bey Bath at different times, and sometimes simply the Hamamözü Hot Springs. Publications do not agree on the temperature of the water, or on when and by whom the baths were repaired; what follows sets out what is known together with the points on which the sources part company.

Location and the Origin of the Name

Hamamözü sits in a narrow valley between İnegöl Mountain to the north and Saray Mountain to the south. The climate is a transition between the continental conditions of Central Anatolia and the milder Black Sea regime, with hot, dry summers and cold winters. Around the settlement there are orchards and stands of poplar and willow, and higher up pine and oak forests. The springs lie on the valley floor, within the district centre, on the road to Laçin.

The district takes its name from the hot spring and from the baths built over it. According to local tradition a bath was raised over the hot water, the settlement grew up around it, and expressions such as "the source of the bath" or "the bath stream" gradually became Hamamözü. The "öz" here refers to the stream running through the settlement. This explanation rests on local tradition and cannot be called a documented etymology.

The village name also appears in Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn's Amasya Tarihi. Describing the district of Hacıköyü (present-day Gümüşhacıköy), Hüsâmeddîn writes that the first of its four subdistricts was Hamamözü, that it lay on the eastern and northern slopes of the İnegöl Mountains, and that it took its name from the village of Hamamözü. According to the same text the subdistrict was once the homeland of a Turkish tribe called Göçeri or Göçerli, with some Çepni Turks also settled there, and the village names Çetmi and Göçeri survive as traces of these tribes. Hüsâmeddîn does not mention the hot springs and does not name Arkut Bey, so the Seljuk-period tradition recounted below cannot be supported from his work.

What Is Said About Antiquity

It is not known when the springs were first used. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism's official entry states that, although the exact date is uncertain, a small bath and pool have been in use since antiquity. The district history of the Hamamözü District Governorate reaches further back and says that settlement in the valley predates the Hittite period. It recalls the proximity of the Hittite capital Hattusa and of Alacahöyük, and of the Kızılırmak, and holds that systematic archaeological work would bring a great many finds out of the valley. This is an expectation, and no systematic excavation report from the valley is known to have been published.

The same history says that after the Phrygians and the Cimmerians the Romans were present in the region, and that Hamamözü preserves a Roman bath, gravestones and inscribed stones in the walls of the old mosque. The text adds an interesting detail. About thirty years earlier a teacher serving in Western Thrace took a photograph of one of the inscribed stones to Greece and had it read by specialists in Roman history. According to the translations, in the 50s A.D. a man named Paros, subject to Rome, had a three-domed bath, that is, three separate baths, built and had his name carved in stone and set into the wall of the bath. The District Governorate's text does not present this as established fact; it relays it with the words "it is envisaged". The inscribed stone in the mosque courtyard is said to be the gravestone of a priest's daughter who died around A.D. 300. The text also adds that in some work around the springs domes and arches were uncovered and that large Roman cemeteries are said to lie nearby.

An entry in the Turkey Tourism Encyclopedia repeats the same date in firmer language: excavations are said to have shown that the springs have been in operation since the 50s A.D. Yet no source states who carried out this excavation, in which year, or where its results were published. The only visible basis is the reading of the inscription mentioned above. Use in the Roman period is a reasonable possibility; the name Paros and the date of A.D. 50 remain a local reading awaiting verification.

Arkut Bey and the Tradition of the Repair

The present name of the springs comes from the name of an administrator. The story told in local publications runs as follows. The Seljuk ruler Kılıç Arslan II ended Danishmendid rule in 1095 and left Amasya to his son Melik Nizamettin Argun Shah. Argun Shah in turn placed the Hamamözü area, left over from the Danishmendids, under the protection of Arkut Bey, who served in his entourage. The hot water, which until then had reached the surface only as a seep, received a bath built with the means of the day in Arkut Bey's time. The same encyclopedia entry describes the result of this first major repair as a two-domed building, one dome set aside for women and the other for men. The bath came to be called the "Arkut Bey Bath" because of this repair.

The dates in this account contain an inconsistency. According to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi the Danishmendids ruled between 1071 and 1178, and the end of Danishmendid rule in Amasya also falls in the last quarter of the twelfth century. In 1095 the Seljuk throne was occupied by Kılıç Arslan I. The sentence "Kılıç Arslan II ended the Danishmendids in 1095" therefore does not fit the known chronology. Most probably separate events have been compressed into a single one in local memory. Arkut Bey's identity, his title and the age in which he lived are likewise undocumented. Some older guides, moreover, speak of "Arkıt Bey, who opened the springs to use in Ottoman times", placing him in the Ottoman rather than the Seljuk period. That the same name is tied to two different ages shows that the tradition rests on oral custom rather than on documents.

In Hüsâmeddîn's section on Hacıköyü a man called Sadreddîn Artuk et-Türkmânî el-Kımârî is mentioned. Until about 780 A.H. he developed Hacıköyü, built a mosque and a school there, and for this reason the settlement was for a time known as "Artukâbâd". The similarity of the names is striking, but no record connects the two men, and no identification is made here. Some encyclopedias note that Evliya Çelebi's Seyahatname mentions the Hamamözü springs; the text of the passage in question could not be verified.

The Buried Bath and Its Rebuilding

According to the municipality's history of the springs, the building of Arkut Bey's time was later buried underground by natural conditions. In later investigations works of that period and water arches came to light. The same text recounts that when "our grandfathers" settled in the area in the year 1303 the bath had closed completely, and nothing remained but seeps of hot water. The settlers built the bath a second time with the means of the day, and the building served for a long time in the same arrangement. The name is said to have turned at this stage into "Hamamözü Hot Springs", taking the name of the locality.

The text does not say which calendar the year 1303 belongs to. The year 1303 of the Hijri calendar corresponds to 1885-1886, and 1303 of the Rumi calendar to 1887-1888. The governorate and the municipality's district history report that Hamamözü was founded in 1887 when 60 households of Circassian origin who had migrated from the Caucasus bought the farm of the Gümüş notables İbrahim and Kamil Bey and settled there. The two dates are very close, and the "grandfathers" who rebuilt the bath may have been these migrants; but this is an interpretation, and the sources do not say so outright. Another source states that people who came from the Caucasus after the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-1878 settled here and have run the springs from that day to this. The governorate's text adds that most of the people in the villages are descended from those who migrated from the Gümüşhane area during the same war.

The administrative history of the settlement is given in the sources as follows. The village of Hamamözü was first attached to the subdistrict of Çayköy, became a subdistrict centre in 1910, and became a town with the founding of a municipality in 1971 or 1972; the sources differ on the year of the municipality. It gained district status by Law No. 3644, published in the Official Gazette of 20 May 1990, and the conversion into a district was completed on 5 August 1991. Today the district has 17 villages and 4 neighbourhoods in the centre; according to 2024 figures its population is 3,567, and it is the least populous district of Amasya.

The Road to the Modern Facility

The municipality's history openly admits that the old buildings no longer met present-day needs. The municipality began talks with İller Bankası in 1977, but the modern thermal facilities the district deserved could open only in the 2000s. The governorate's text says that a 121-bed sanatorium-type thermal facility, built with an İller Bankası loan and owned by the municipality, was let out by tender. According to the same text, in 2009 two apart-hotels and two guesthouses belonging to private investors were also supplying hot spring water to their guests. The District Governorate's own introduction of the district mentions a three-star thermal facility operating alongside the Arkutbey springs.

The springs are owned by the municipality, and the operation is leased from time to time by tender to private persons. According to published information, the women's and men's sections are open from 04:00 in the morning to midnight, and in summer, except on Sundays, the sections change over between 13:00 and 18:00. At entry and exit the operator provides a pestemal, a large towel and a head towel. The hours are taken from guides published in different years; current arrangements should be confirmed with the operator.

Properties of the Water

There are three springs at the Hamamözü bath. An encyclopedia entry and an older guide to the hot springs give the temperature as 38 °C, the radioactivity as 6 eman and the pH as 7.4. Another guide gives a range of 38 to 40 °C. The Ministry's entry speaks of about 42.5 °C. The difference may arise from different measurement years and measurement points, but the publications do not say. Guides that give the temperature as 37 to 38 °C also note that the water can be used without cooling.

On chemical classification the publications largely agree. The water belongs to the group of sodium bicarbonate waters; older guides add the qualifier calcium chloride. On 20 July 1989 samples taken from the spring by the chemical engineer Ender Başak were examined in the hydrology laboratory of the Department of Medical Ecology and Hydroclimatology, and the report described the mineral water as sodium bicarbonate, calcium-bearing, hyperthermal, oligometallic and hypotonic. These terms indicate that the temperature is above 37 °C, that the amount of dissolved matter is low, and that mineral concentration is below that of body fluids. Another guide puts total mineralisation at around half a gram and finds the water chemically similar to that of the neighbouring Terziköy springs; for Terziköy water a mineralisation of 0.7009 grams per litre is given.

The water is used both for bathing and for drinking. The lists of ailments given in the sources show which groups of complaints the water has been associated with, and should not be read as medical advice. The Ministry's entry states that the water is regarded as useful in chronic painful rheumatic diseases, nervous system disorders, the period after paralysis, heart-vessel and blood pressure problems, lumbar disc herniation and sciatica, women's ailments, hormonal irregularity and some skin problems. The 1989 report lists the groups for which it could be used as local application, lavage, drinking cure and sitz bath: chronic inflammatory and degenerative rheumatic diseases, traumatic disorders of the locomotor system, neurovegetative and psychosomatic disorders, vascular diseases, menstrual irregularities in women and skin problems in the elderly. An older guide links drinking with certain stages of stomach and intestinal diseases, and bathing with rheumatism in its non-inflammatory phase, neuralgia and neuritis. None of these lists replaces the opinion of a physician.

The Geothermal Setting

No detailed geological publication on the underground origin of the Hamamözü spring has been found. Nothing definite can be said about which fault, which rock unit and which depth of reservoir the springs are linked to. Search records show that the MTA prepared a final report on hot-water borehole H-1 for the Amasya Gümüşhacıköy Hamamözü (Arkutbey) hot springs; the contents of the report could not be read.

For a general framework one can look at studies in the surrounding area. The hot springs of Amasya are mostly associated with the fracture systems formed by the North Anatolian Fault Zone and its branches. A study published in the MTA Journal of Earth Sciences and Mining examines the Amasya-Merzifon-Çobanören borehole drilled on the northern flank of the Merzifon-Suluova pull-apart basin. The well reached 2,200 metres; artesian production was measured at 2 litres per second at 53 °C, compressor production at 5.3 litres per second at 56 °C, and the reservoir temperature was calculated at between 90 and 100 °C. These data belong to that basin; a relationship with the Hamamözü spring has not been demonstrated.

The Facilities Today

The thermal facility has 63 rooms: 56 doubles, 2 triples and 5 suites. Bed capacity is given as 130, or 150 with extra beds. All rooms have a balcony, underfloor heating and hot-cold climate control, and thermal water can also be used in the bathrooms. The same encyclopedia entry also presents the facility with 63 rooms and 130 beds and adds two indoor pools, a sauna, treatment pools, Turkish baths, private family bathrooms, a restaurant and a conference hall. The difference between the governorate's figure of 121 beds and these numbers may stem from the information having been written in different years.

The pool complex is a fully enclosed building of 2,000 square metres with a space-frame roof. There is a pool for adults measuring 10 by 20 metres and 1.45 metres deep, with jacuzzi-style steps, and a second pool for children measuring 5 by 10 metres and 0.45 metres deep. Both pools are filled with thermal water as it comes from the spring; water enters the pool continuously from below, overflows at the top, and the overflow is not reused. In the two octagonal treatment pools, each of 10 square metres and 1.5 metres deep, operated separately for women and men, seated bathing and steam applications are carried out. The Turkish baths in the men's and women's sections have seven basins and a central heated stone; the water used in them is mains water heated at the facility and is not fed by thermal water. There are also 17 private family bathrooms, much favoured by day visitors and free of charge for hotel guests. The complex includes a sauna, a gym, a restaurant seating 150, a conference hall seating 100, a car park for 60 vehicles and a tea garden.

The Old Bath is also said to remain in service alongside the modern facility; this is the section that local records describe as a two-domed building set aside one half for women and one half for men. In an older guide the facilities are listed as two public pools, one for men and one for women. The Armut hot springs on the Gümüşhacıköy-Hamamözü road are mentioned as another hot spring in the same district. The springs' contribution to the district economy is seen mostly in summer; the governorate notes that domestic tourism brings a rise in population and guesthouse trade in summer.

Notable Names of the District

The water that gave Hamamözü its name is not the only thing the district is known for. Two world-champion wrestlers came from here: Hamit Kaplan, who was born in Hamamözü on 20 September 1934 and died in Çorum on 5 January 1976, and Adil Candemir. Each year the municipality holds events in memory of these two, who are registered in the district's population, and of İsmail Topçam; many people from neighbouring provinces and districts attend. The Hamit Kaplan Museum stands in the district centre.

Chronology

50s A.D.: According to the local reading, a man named Paros, subject to Rome, had the three-domed bath built (no definite document exists).

Around A.D. 300: The inscribed stone in the mosque courtyard is said to be the gravestone of a priest's daughter who died at this time.

12th century (tradition): Arkut Bey, in the entourage of Argun Shah, is said to have had the springs repaired; the date and the person are undocumented, and the date 1095 conflicts with the known chronology.

1303 (calendar unclear): Settlers in the area rebuild the springs, which had been buried underground, for a second time.

1887: Sixty households of Circassian origin buy a farm belonging to the Gümüş notables and found the village of Hamamözü.

1910: Hamamözü becomes a subdistrict centre.

1971-1972: A municipality is founded and the settlement becomes a town.

1977: The municipality opens talks with İller Bankası over a modern thermal facility.

20 July 1989: In the analysis of samples taken from the spring the water is found to be sodium bicarbonate, calcium-bearing and hyperthermal.

20 May 1990: Hamamözü becomes a district under Law No. 3644; the conversion into a district is completed on 5 August 1991.

2000s: The modern thermal facility opens.

Sources

Primary sources

  • Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar. Amasya Tarihi, vol. 1 (section on the district of Hacıköyü).

Academic studies

  • Amasya-Merzifon-Çobanören (AMÇ-2016/3) jeotermal arama sondaj verilerinin incelenmesi. MTA Yerbilimleri ve Madencilik Dergisi. dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/mtayermad/issue/85164/1501429 dergipark.org.tr

Official sources

  • Hamamözü District Governorate. İlçemiz Tarihçesi. hamamozu.gov.tr/ilcemiz-tarihcesi hamamozu.gov.tr
  • Hamamözü Municipality. Tarihçemiz. hamamozu.bel.tr/sayfa/tarihcemiz.html hamamozu.bel.tr
  • Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Hamamözü Arkutbey Kaplıcaları. kulturportali.gov.tr kulturportali.gov.tr

Books

  • Avşaroğlu, M. (1968). Amasya - Hamamözü Arkıtbey Kaplıcası. Termalizm ve Klimatizm I: Türkiye Kaplıcaları ve İçmeleri Kılavuzu. Ankara: Güneş Matbaacılık, p. 30.

Other sources

  • Amasya Governorate. Introduction of Hamamözü district (history, geography, tourism).
  • Güncan, Özlem (2020). Hamamözü Kaplıcaları. Online Türkiye Turizm Ansiklopedisi. turkiyeturizmansiklopedisi.com/hamamozu-kaplicalari turkiyeturizmansiklopedisi.com
  • Termal Rehber. Hamamözü (Arkut Bey) Kaplıcası and Amasya İlindeki Şifalı Sular ve Kaplıcalar Rehberi. termalrehber.com termalrehber.com
  • Özaydın, Abdülkerim. Dânişmendliler. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi.