This small local museum, nicely located off the beaten path, was once awarded as the best small museum in Turkey. It's definitely worth visiting while in Amasra. Most of the artefacts and works exhibited in the museum building are directly related to the history of Amasra and its surrounding region, ranging from the Hellenistic to Roman periods as well as to the Byzantine, Genoese, and Ottoman eras.

The origins of the museum in Amasra date back to 1955, when exhibits constituting the beginning of the collection were gathered and exhibited in the city hall. In 1969, the museum moved to the old school building. The construction of this school was initiated in 1884 by Ismail Kemal Beg, the governor of Bolu, but was left unfinished. In 1976, a restoration began in the building, and it was completed in 1982.

The museum consists of four exhibition rooms: two of them present archaeological finds from the Amasra area, and two - ethnographic collections.

The first archaeological hall contains small exhibits from Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine times. The exhibited items include ornaments made of gold and bronze, ceramics, including amphoras and jugs, fishing hooks, crosses, candlesticks, weapons, bronze statuettes, and a collection of coins.

The second archaeological room is devoted to finds of larger dimensions. Here you can see monuments, reliefs, architectural parts of buildings, and tombstones. Tomb steles are the stone blocks in rectangular form placed at the head of the tombs. Inscriptions and embossed figures describing the dead persons are visible on them. An example of an inscription is as follows: "I, Demetrios, the son of Agathos, who lived for 67 years, built the sarcophagus and stele at the grave monument, which is seen at the eastern part of the land. My wife, Aeliane, is also buried there. I want my sons, Menadros and Julianos Aelianus Demetrius, to turn back to piety for me and their mothers; He lived for 76 years. The 4th day of the month of Daeisios in the year of 254 (184 CE)."

The first ethnographic room shows copper kitchen utensils, weapons, writing sets, candlesticks, pottery and rings, as well as woodcuts typical of the Amasra region.

The second ethnographic room contains display cases with clothes from the Ottoman era, Koran manuscripts, silver decorations, bags and purses, clocks and bedding. In addition, the map of the Mediterranean Sea, which was printed in the printing house of the Ottoman Palace, is also waiting its visitors.

In the museum's garden there are stone exhibits from Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Genoese, and Ottoman times. There are large pithoi, amphorae, as well as canons and hoes from the Ottoman era, exhibited beside many architectural objects made up of marbles, such as sarcophagi, tombstones, altars, and statues.

Practical information

The museum is located at the so-called Small Harbour (tr. Küçük Liman), at Dereoğlu Sokak Street No. 4. It is open every day except Mondays, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The entrance ticket in 2023 cost 75 TL. You can take photos inside the museum, but using a flash is prohibited.