Amasra (from Greek Amastris Ἄμαστρις, gen. Ἀμάστριδος) is a small Black Sea port town in the Bartın Province, Turkey.

[1] The town today is much appreciated for its beaches and natural setting, which has made tourism the most important activity for its inhabitants.

Situated in the ancient region of Paphlagonia, the original city seems to have been called Sesamus (Greek: Σήσαμος), and it is mentioned by Homer[3] in conjunction with Cytorus.

Speros Vryonis states that in the 9th century a "combination of local industry, trade, and the produce of its soil made Amastris one of the more prosperous towns on the Black Sea.

"[14] In the 13th century Amastris exchanged hands several times, first, seized by a Georgian army,[15] led by David Komnenos, becoming a possession of the Empire of Trebizond in 1204,[16] then at some point in the next ten years being captured by the Seljuk Turks, until finally in 1261, in her bid to monopolize the Black Sea trade, the town came under the control of the Republic of Genoa.

Genoese domination ended when the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II conquered the whole Anatolian shores of the Black Sea.

It is listed as such in the Notitia Episcopatuum attributed to Basil the Armenian (c. 840) and in that of Leo VI the Wise (early 10th century).

It is vacant as such since decades, having had the following incumbents of the archiepiscopal (intermediary) rank : With its architectural heritage, Amasra is a member of the Norwich-based European Association of Historic Towns and Regions.

Of particular interest is a statue of the snake god Glykon, a fraudulent creation of a local entrepreneur during Roman imperial times.

[26] Bird's Rock Road Monument was created between AD 41-54 by the order of Bithynia et Pontus Governor Gaius Julius Aquila.