Heading southwest from Amasya, the landscape changes by degrees. The green of the Black Sea country thins out, and the yellowish brown of Central Anatolia comes forward. In this transitional belt, in the valley opened by the Çekerek, a tributary of the Yeşilırmak, lies Göynücek. The district is known less for showy monuments than for a quiet geography of mounds, castle ruins, okra fields and small villages. It sits off the main roads and receives few visitors, yet it carries traces of almost every era of Anatolian history.

A District at the Centre of Four Provinces

Göynücek lies in the southwest of Amasya Province, in the valley of the Çekerek River. According to the district governorate's own description, it borders Zile in Tokat to the east, Ortaköy in Çorum to the west, Aydıncık in Yozgat to the south and the central district of Amasya to the north. This places the district squarely among the provinces of Amasya, Tokat, Çorum and Yozgat, a situation that official texts stress as found in only a handful of Turkish districts. The same text notes that old trade routes running east-west and north-south crossed in this territory.

Distances are given as follows: Zile 38 km, Ortaköy 30 km, Amasya centre 45 km, Aydıncık 54 km. The municipality's older description gives 35 km for Aydıncık, so the sources do not agree on this point. Minibuses run between Amasya and the district. The provincial governorate's text gives the frequency as every half hour, while the district governorate's current text says hourly, so it is best to ask about current timetables before setting out.

The district's area varies with the source. The district governorate, the provincial governorate and the encyclopaedia entries give 578 km², while a compilation based on the General Command of Mapping's list shows 591 km². Altitude ranges from 450 to 1100 metres, and the district centre is reported at about 523 metres. The terrain is rugged and mountainous. Karadağ rises in the west and Tekke Dağı in the south and east. The main watercourses are the Çekerek, a tributary of the Yeşilırmak, and the Çorum River. Much of the land is covered by steppe and scrub, with marsh, forest and groves here and there.

Climate

According to official descriptions, summers are hot and dry and winters mild and rainy, without severe cold. English-language sources based on climate data compilations place Göynücek in the hot-summer Mediterranean zone (Csa) of the Köppen classification. By these figures the mean annual temperature is 12.8 degrees and annual precipitation 407 mm. The coldest month is January (1.9 degrees) and the warmest are July and August (22.4 and 22.5 degrees). These values come from a climate data website and may differ from local measurements. The 1950-2014 long-term averages given for Amasya show a similar pattern: rainfall is very scarce in July and August, rainy days fall to three, and summer humidity stays between 40 and 55 per cent. This pattern matters for the district's agriculture, above all for okra.

History of the Settlement

According to the district governorate's history, the first settlements in Göynücek go back to the Chalcolithic Age, roughly 5500-3000 BC. The same text states plainly that putting this on firm ground would require intensive excavation and scientific research. The Ayvalıpınar mound is cited as an example of Chalcolithic settlement and the Gediksaray mound as an example of a Bronze Age settlement (roughly 3000-2500 BC). It is related that in the Middle Bronze Age (2500-2000 BC) the area lay within the Hittite sphere, known in Mesopotamian written documents as the Land of Hatti, and that between 750 and 585 BC Phrygian, Cimmerian, Scythian and Medo-Persian rule followed in turn. The Ilısu Kocaman Tepe mound is given as an example of settlement from this period.

The region came under Persian-Pontic control in 301 BC and passed under Roman rule in 47 BC, when the Roman army under Caesar won the Battle of Zela near Zile. Gökçeli Castle is presented as a structure of this period. After the division of the Roman Empire the region fell to Byzantium. Seljuk control followed with Kılıçarslan II's conquest of Amasya in 1175, then the Eretna state in 1341 and Ottoman administration in 1393. The present town centre is said to have been founded under the name Göynücek around 1650. In Ottoman local land registers of the 1800s it appears attached to Mecitözü, and so to the Sanjak of Amasya, by way of the nahiye of Varay (Gediksaray). For a time it was attached to the Ilısu nahiye, in 1922 it first gained district status, and in 1926 it lost it again. It was re-established as a kaza by Law No. 6324 of 4 March 1954, which came into force on 1 June 1954. It is also reported to have belonged to Çorum Province for a period.

Mounds and Archaeological Evidence

The most detailed scholarly account of Göynücek's archaeology is Şevket Dönmez's article, based on surface surveys of 1997-1999 and published in Belleten in 2005. Dönmez describes Gediksaray Mound as one of the largest mounds in the Central Black Sea region, like Oluz Höyük, with a height of about 15 metres and dimensions of 350 x 150 metres. The mound lies about one kilometre north of the town of Gediksaray, and the road into the town cuts it in two. On the surface, traces of settlement from Early Bronze Age II-III, the Late Bronze Age, and the Hellenistic and Roman periods were found, together with Middle and Late Iron Age remains.

The Iron Age pottery collected from the mound consists of six sherds, two of the Middle and four of the Late Iron Age. They divide into undecorated and painted groups and are rim and body fragments of jars and kraters. Parallels have turned up at Central Anatolian sites such as Boğazköy/Büyükkale, Alişar Höyük, Alaca Höyük, Kerkenes, Çadır Höyük and Pteria. The dark brown decoration of parallel horizontal lines on the Late Iron Age sherds accords with the geometric decorative tendency Dönmez identifies in Late Iron Age pottery from Amasya.

Researchers disagree about where the Iron Age begins here. Mehmet and Nurten Özsait attributed red-painted pottery with a faceted look, collected from several settlements in Amasya and Samsun, to the Early Iron Age, to local peoples under Hittite cultural influence and especially to the Kaska. Ayvalıpınar I and II in Göynücek are on their list. Dönmez, by contrast, maintains that no pottery with Early Iron Age characteristics has turned up within the borders of Amasya in his own or earlier surveys, and that the examples the Özsaits cite are no different in technique, form and decoration from Middle and Late Iron Age examples. The question of which periods Ayvalıpınar actually spans can therefore not be considered fully closed.

The same article also presents a Hellenistic bowl from the village of Harmancık in Göynücek, kept in the Amasya Museum and decorated with an ivy-leaf composition. Dönmez takes this intact bowl as proof of a local Hellenistic painted pottery tradition in Amasya that strongly continued Iron Age practice. The article also draws attention to the horse burial and Scythian-type arrowheads from Maşat Höyük in neighbouring Zile, to kurgan-type tombs in Amasya, and to 250 Scythian-type bronze arrowheads bought by the museum in 1978. These finds suggest that mounted nomadic peoples such as the Cimmerians and Scythians advanced as far as the Central Black Sea. The Cimmerian and Scythian rule that the district governorate's history mentions for 750-585 BC fits this background.

The Hakmiş Debate

The district governorate's history and some news reports say that Hakmiş, a place named in Hittite texts, may lie within the borders of Göynücek. This view is disputed in the academic literature. Leyla Murat's article, based on Hittite cuneiform sources, locates Hakmiş in and around the city of Amasya, north of the Çorum-Tokat line. It can therefore be argued that Göynücek hosted the lost city of the Hittites, but this has not been proved. Pinning down its location would require excavation results.

Gökçeli Castle

The district's most often cited historic structure is Gökçeli Castle. It stands on a rocky hill dominating the Çekerek Valley, about one kilometre northeast of the village of Gökçeli. Its distance from the district centre is given as about eight kilometres, and from the village, in some sources, as seven kilometres. Its position suited it to watching the crossing of the valley and controlling the roads around it.

The exact date of construction is unknown. Iron Age potsherds from around the castle, dated to the 7th century BC, suggest that the structure was founded mainly in the Iron Age. In Roman times it was used as a garrison. Researchers such as Franz Cumont, Hans Henning von der Osten, Hubertus von Gall and Mehmet Özsait, and the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, have worked at the castle. This work led to its identification as a Roman garrison, but the Roman pottery found around the castle has remained limited. For this reason it remains unsettled whether the castle was built as part of the Roman defensive system or whether an existing structure was strengthened.

The castle has a stone staircase of 98 steps and a hidden passage connected to it. The General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums has excavated these passages several times. The structure was built to suit the rocky terrain, part of the walls has collapsed over time, and the foundation remains survive. After the division of the Roman Empire the castle is said to have passed to Byzantium, and in the late 11th century to Turkish rule as the Anatolian Seljuks took control of the region. It is also reported to be protected as a first-degree archaeological site.

Because the castle stands on rocky ground, comfortable walking shoes and good weather are needed. The village of Gökçeli is very small, with 31 inhabitants in 2022, so no food or lodging should be expected nearby, and the visit is best planned from the district centre.

Ilısu, Terziköy and the Spa Tradition

Ilısu village had 311 inhabitants in 2022, and its name is said to have been unchanged since 1907. The Ilısu Spa is mentioned among the district's natural and historic features. According to thermal guide texts, its medical and technical properties are similar to those of the Terziköy spa, but for lack of local investment it has remained in the background and serves only local people. It is said to help with rheumatism and stomach and intestinal complaints. This information is compiled from tourism sources, and the competent authorities should be consulted before any use for health purposes.

Agriculture and Flower Okra

Göynücek's economy rests on agriculture rather than industry. According to the district governorate, the district centre is somewhat removed from the main roads and contributes to the national economy mainly through agricultural produce. Okra, onions, sugar beet, poppy, barley and wheat grow on the Çekerek plain. Fruit growing has also developed in recent years, with cherries, apples, sour cherries, apricots, walnuts and peaches becoming common. Activities such as a small industrial estate, a flour mill and baked-goods production are also carried on. A local saying goes, "Amasya's apple, Göynücek's okra," and it sums up the district's agricultural identity.

Okra also has an official registration. "Amasya Çiçek Bamyası" (Amasya Flower Okra) was registered by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office as a designation of origin on 29 May 2018 under number 352. The application was made on 21 April 2016 by the Amasya Provincial Directorate of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, and protection counts from that date. The geographical boundary covers the Merkez, Taşova and Göynücek districts of Amasya, together with Erbaa in Tokat and Mecitözü, Osmancık and Kargı in Çorum. According to the registration document, the okra fields are the alluvial valley-floor plains along the Yeşilırmak and its tributaries (the Çekerek, Tozanlı and Destek Çayı), with the surroundings of Taşova and Göynücek foremost among them. Because the Canik Mountains are low, the sea's influence can reach the interior, and the mild climate of the Yeşilırmak and Kızılırmak valleys lengthens the growing season of this heat-loving plant to 125 to 135 days.

The okra pods are small, light green and only slightly hairy. The crop is called "flower okra" because the pod is picked after the flower opens, before it is fully grown. Because its stem is green with red stripes, it is also known locally as "kızıl bacak" (red leg). Picking begins about 60 days after sowing and runs from the second half of June to the end of September. The pods are picked by hand every day, strung the same day on cotton thread with a needle, left overnight under a thin cloth, and the flowers are separated by hand the next morning. The strings are not dried in direct sunlight; they are dried in a warm place that gets no sun and is kept away from damp, usually an attic. Well-dried okra takes on a golden yellow colour. A decare yields 1500-2000 kg of fresh produce, and 10 kg of fresh okra gives about 2 kg of dried okra. Little is sold fresh at market. Most of the crop is sold dried and eaten in the cold winter months.

There are documents on the product's past as well. A work written in 1893 and cited in the registration document records that 975 okka, about 1250 kg, of okra was produced in Amasya. Another source reports that in 1901, 60 kıyye (about 77 kg) and 172 kıyye (about 220 kg) of Amasya okra were sent to the palace in Istanbul. The Flower Okra Culture and Arts Festival, held by Taşova Municipality since 1994, is the present-day face of this tradition.

Irrigation structures that support farming can also be seen in the district. Of the ponds presented by the district governorate, the Sığırçayı Village Irrigation Pond is fed by Karadere, has a height of 30 metres and a gross storage volume of 1,488,000 m³, and was completed in 2012 to irrigate 4,500 decares. Another source gives a capacity of 1,440,000 m³ for the same pond; the difference between the two figures may stem from the distinction between gross and net volume. The Karaşar, Yassıkışla and Saz Deresi irrigation ponds are presented in the same place. The Lower Çekerek Plain irrigation project is mentioned in official texts as an investment planned for completion soon.

Watermills and Folk Dances

The watermill in the Karapınar quarter of İkizyaka village, according to the district governorate, was built in 1945 and met local needs for ground foods such as flour, feed, mixed grain and bulgur. This mill, still standing, bears the mark of traditional production. Among the district's cultural structures a building called the "Kızlar Sarayı" (Maidens' Palace) is also listed, but the sources at hand give no detail about it.

In folk dance, Göynücek's name stands out within the Amasya region. According to the Turkey Culture Portal, "Yelleme" (Sallama) is danced mostly by young men going off to military service and at heart expresses a sense of valour. "Mahir Çavuş" is a dance dedicated to a brave young man who lived in Göynücek and lost his heart to a girl in one of the district's villages, and local people still dance it with affection today. These dances are performed at weddings, at send-offs for conscripts and on festival days.

Population and Villages

Göynücek consists of 38 villages and three quarters in the district centre (Cumhuriyet, Merkez, Yeni Mahalle). According to TÜİK data, the district's population was 16,997 in 1955 and 22,305 in 1980; it fell to 17,614 in 2000, 13,425 in 2007 and 10,033 in 2020. It was recorded as 10,291 in 2021 and 10,787 in 2024. In 2024 the male population is 5,504 and the female population 5,283. In 2020 the centre had 4,166 inhabitants and the villages 5,867, and in 2021 the centre rose to 4,938. The mark of the continuing drift from countryside to town can be seen in the district's small villages too: Gökçeli has 31 people in 2022 and Kervansaray 109 in 2021.

Gediksaray appears in records of 1300 and 1876 under the Greek-derived name "Varay". It became a municipality in 1972 and lost municipal status in 2013 when its population fell below 2,000; in 2022 it has 492 inhabitants. The village is 12 km from the district centre and 34 km from Amasya. On the education side, instruction is given in a total of 144 classrooms in six schools in the centre and four primary and middle schools in the villages, and the district governorate gives the literacy rate as 98 per cent. The Göynücek District Public Library was founded in 1978 and holds about 10,665 books and 89 periodicals. There is an integrated state hospital in the district centre, and health posts serve the villages of Karaşar, Damlaçimen, Gediksaray, Ayvalıpınar and Alan.

Notes for the Traveller

Göynücek is not a place to be toured quickly; it makes sense as a place that is got to know slowly. It is enough to look at Gökçeli Castle, the surroundings of Gediksaray Mound, the villages along the Çekerek valley and the okra fields. Access to most points and the facilities around them are limited, so it is wise to consult the district governorate or the municipality (Atatürk Cad. No:1) in advance. For those coming from the centre of Amasya, the best-known route is a road of about 45 km.

Göynücek is one of the districts of Amasya that best represents the transition between two climates and two geographies. The humidity of the Black Sea and the dryness of Central Anatolia mingle here.

Sources

Academic studies

  • Şevket Dönmez, "1997-1999 Yılları Yüzey Araştırmalarında İncelenen Amasya İli Demir Çağı Yerleşmeleri", Belleten, August 2005, Vol. 69, No. 255 amasya.gov.tr
  • Leyla Murat, "Hitit Tarihi-Coğrafyasında Hakmiš ve İštahara Ülkelerinin Konumu", DergiPark

Official sources

  • Göynücek District Governorate, "İlçemizin Tarihçesi", "Su Değirmenleri" and "Sulama Göletleri" pages (goynucek.gov.tr) goynucek.gov.tr
  • Republic of Türkiye Amasya Governorate, "Göynücek" (amasya.gov.tr)
  • Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Amasya Provincial Directorate, "Göynücek" (amasya.ktb.gov.tr)

Other sources

  • Wikipedia, entries "Göynücek", "Gediksaray", "Gökçeli", "Ilısu" (tr); "Göynücek", "Göynücek District" (en)
  • Turkey Culture Portal, "Amasya Halk Oyunları"
  • Göynücek Municipality official website (goynucek.bel.tr); Tokat Haber, 13.02.2026

Online sources