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{{Infobox Turkey place
| type                 = municipality
| name                 = Merzifon
| other_name           =
| image_skyline        = Merzifon-June2016 (1).jpg
| image_caption        =
| image_shield         =
| coordinates          = {{coord|40|52|30|N|35|27|48|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| province             = Amasya
| district             = Merzifon
| leader_party         = [[Republican People's Party|CHP]]
| leader_name          = Alp Kargı
| area_footnotes       =
| area_total_km2       =
| elevation_m          = 750
| population_footnotes = <ref name=tuik/>
| population_total     = 61376
| population_as_of     = 2021
| postal_code          = 05300
| area_code            =
| website              = {{URL|https://merzifon.bel.tr/}}
}}
'''Merzifon''' ({{langx|hy|Մարզուան|Marzvan}}; [[Romanization of Persian|Middle Persian]]: {{transl|peo|''Merzban''}}; {{langx|grc|Μερσυφὼν|Mersyphòn}} or {{lang|el|Μερζιφούντα}}, ''Merzifounta'') is a town in [[Amasya Province]] in the central [[Black Sea]] region of [[Turkey]]. It is the seat of [[Merzifon District]].<ref name=ilce>[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx İlçe Belediyesi], Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 January 2023.</ref> Its population is 61,376 (2021).<ref name=tuik>{{Cite web |title=Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2021|url=https://www.tuik.gov.tr/indir/duyuru/favori_raporlar.xlsx |access-date=12 January 2023|publisher=[[TÜİK]]|language=tr |format=XLS}}</ref> The mayor is Alp Kargı ([[Republican People's Party|CHP]]).
Modern Merzifon is a typical large but quiet Anatolian town with schools, hospitals, courts and other important infrastructure but few cultural amenities. There is a large airbase nearby.
Merzifon is twinned with the city of [[Pleasant Hill, California]].
[[File:Merzifon.jpg|thumb|alt=Drawing of Merzifon by Osman Shakir Effendi in Musavver Sefaretname-i Iran|Drawing of Merzifon by Osman Shakir Effendi in Musavver Sefaretname-i Iran]]
==Etymology==
Former variants of its name include Marzifūn, Mersivan, Marsovan, Marsiwān, Mersuvan, Merzpond and Merzban. The name apparently comes from {{Transliteration|fa|[[Marzban|marzbān]]}}, the Persian title for a "march lord" or a district governor, although the exact connection is not clear. Scholar [[Özhan Öztürk]], however, claims that original name was Marsıvan (Persian {{Transliteration|fa|marz}} 'border + [[Armenian language|Armenian]] {{Transliteration|hy|van}} 'town') which means "border town".<ref>[[Özhan Öztürk]]. Pontus: Antik Çağ’dan Günümüze Karadeniz’in Etnik ve Siyasi Tarihi. Genesis Yayınları. Ankara, 2011. p.440. {{ISBN|978-605-54-1017-9}}.</ref>
==Geography==
Standing on a plain, watered by a river, Merzifon is on the road between the capital city of [[Ankara]] and [[Samsun]] on the [[Black Sea]] coast, 109 km from Samsun, 325 km from Ankara and 40 km west of the city of [[Amasya]].
==Climate==
Merzifon has a [[warm-summer Mediterranean climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]: ''Csb''). The weather is moderately cold in winter and warm in summer.
{{Weather box
| width       = auto
| collapsed   = yes
| metric first = yes
| single line = yes
| location    = Merzifon (1991–2020)
| Jan high C = 5.3
| Feb high C = 7.7
| Mar high C = 12.2
| Apr high C = 17.6
| May high C = 22.2
| Jun high C = 25.7
| Jul high C = 28.6
| Aug high C = 29.1
| Sep high C = 25.5
| Oct high C = 19.9
| Nov high C = 12.6
| Dec high C = 7.0
| year high C = 17.8
| Jan mean C = 1.2
| Feb mean C = 2.6
| Mar mean C = 6.4
| Apr mean C = 11.1
| May mean C = 15.5
| Jun mean C = 19.0
| Jul mean C = 21.7
| Aug mean C = 21.9
| Sep mean C = 18.2
| Oct mean C = 13.6
| Nov mean C = 7.1
| Dec mean C = 2.9
| year mean C = 11.8
| Jan low C = -2.0
| Feb low C = -1.3
| Mar low C = 1.7
| Apr low C = 5.6
| May low C = 9.8
| Jun low C = 13.2
| Jul low C = 15.5
| Aug low C = 15.8
| Sep low C = 12.3
| Oct low C = 8.4
| Nov low C = 2.8
| Dec low C = -0.3
| year low C = 6.8
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 38.34
| Feb precipitation mm = 27.17
| Mar precipitation mm = 41.28
| Apr precipitation mm = 51.02
| May precipitation mm = 60.22
| Jun precipitation mm = 54.75
| Jul precipitation mm = 16.51
| Aug precipitation mm = 15.47
| Sep precipitation mm = 23.28
| Oct precipitation mm = 30.76
| Nov precipitation mm = 32.86
| Dec precipitation mm = 43.85
| year precipitation mm = 435.51
| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
| Jan precipitation days = 6.7
| Feb precipitation days = 5.4
| Mar precipitation days = 7.4
| Apr precipitation days = 8.2
| May precipitation days = 9.2
| Jun precipitation days = 8.2
| Jul precipitation days = 3.4
| Aug precipitation days = 2.7
| Sep precipitation days = 3.3
| Oct precipitation days = 5.2
| Nov precipitation days = 5.6
| Dec precipitation days = 6.8
| year precipitation days = 72.1
| Jan humidity = 74.8
| Feb humidity = 70.3
| Mar humidity = 65.8
| Apr humidity = 61.9
| May humidity = 63.1
| Jun humidity = 63.9
| Jul humidity = 60.4
| Aug humidity = 60.9
| Sep humidity = 62.3
| Oct humidity = 66.1
| Nov humidity = 70.0
| Dec humidity = 75.5
| year humidity = 66.2
| source = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|NOAA]]<ref name="WMONormals">{{cite web
|url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Turkiye/CSV/Merzifon_17083.csv
|title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Merzifon
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|access-date = January 16, 2024}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Merzifon tarihi sokak, bedesten önü.jpg|thumb|Street view of a historical place in Merzifon]]
==History==
===Pre-Roman history===
Archaeological evidence (hundreds of burial mounds or [[höyük|höyüks]]) indicates settlement of this well-watered area since the Stone Age (at least 5500 BC). The first fortifications were built by the [[Hittites]], who were expelled in around 1200 BC by invaders descending from the [[Black Sea]]. After 700 BC the fortifications were rebuilt by the [[Phrygians]], who left a number of burial mounds and other remains. From 600 BC the Phrygians were pushed out by further invasions from the east, this time by [[Cimmerians]] from across the [[Caucasus]] mountains; graves from this period have been excavated and their contents displayed in the museum in Amasya. Merzifon then became a trading post of the kings of [[Kingdom of Pontus|Pontus]], who ruled the Black Sea coast from their capital in Amasya.
===Rome and Byzantium===
The district of Amasya was destroyed during civil wars of the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] era but Merzifon was restored by command of the emperor [[Hadrian]]. Finds from Roman temples in Merzifon are also on display in the Amasya museum. The city grew in importance under Roman rule as its walls and fortifications were strengthened, and it remained strong under Byzantine rule (following the division of the Roman empire in 395), although it was held briefly by Arab armies during the 8th-century expansion of Islam. After this the castle of ''Bulak'' was built as a defence.
===Turks and Ottomans===
In the 11th century the [[Danishmend]] dynasty established Islam in Merzifon and the Byzantines never regained control. The Danishmends were followed by the [[Seljuk Turks]], the [[Ilkhan|Ilkhanids]], and, from 1393 onwards, by the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]]. Merzifon was an important city for the Ottomans because of its proximity to Amasya (where Ottoman princes were raised and schooled for the throne). The Turkish travel writer [[Evliya Çelebi]] recorded it  as a well-fortified trading city in the 17th century.
Merzifon was home to one of the last communities of [[Zoroastrianism in Armenia|Armenian Zoroastrians]] - known as Arewordik (children of the sun) - who are believed to have been killed in the [[Armenian genocide]] between 1915 and 1917.
By the 19th century Merzifon had become a centre for European trading and missionary activity, and American missionaries established a seminary here in 1862. In 1886, a school called the [[Anatolia College in Merzifon]] was founded (it expanded to serve girls in 1893). By 1914, the schools had over 200 boarding students, mostly ethnic Greeks and Armenians. The complex also had one of the largest hospitals in Asia Minor, and an orphanage housing 2000 children. However, the town also became a focal point for [[Armenian nationalism]] (Armenians comprised half of the population of what they called Marsovan in 1915) and anti-Western sentiment. It suffered at least two riots in the 1890s, but the damage was rebuilt. In 1915, over 11,000 Armenians were deported from the city (which had had approximately 30,000 inhabitants in the previous year) in [[death march|death marches]]; others were killed and their property confiscated and sold to Turkish insiders, supposedly to benefit the Ottoman war effort, as documented by missionary [[George E. White (missionary)|George E. White]]. In addition, in 1915 several Greek men were murdered by the Ottomans, while the women were compelled to follow the Ottoman troops. Those who were exhausted after the long marches were abandoned with their babies on the roadside.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64613402 |title=ARMENIAN ATROCITIES. |newspaper=[[The North Western Advocate and The Emu Bay Times]] |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=3 August 1915 |accessdate=15 February 2021 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Following the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)|Greco-Turkish War]], the Merzifon College was closed and all the remaining Christians in Merzifon were forced to relocate to Greece where a new [[Anatolia College]] was opened in [[Thessaloniki]] in 1924
===Turkish Republic===
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the [[First World War]], unrest continued. British troops were deployed in formerly Ottoman lands to ensure the terms of surrender, and some of them arrived in Merzifon in 1919 just as George White returned and reopened the college and orphanage, as well as a new "baby house" for displaced Armenian mothers and infants. However, the British troops soon withdrew and unrest continued in Merzifon.
==Attractions==
Merzifon's main attraction is the [[Kara Mustafa Paşa Mosque|Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa Mosque]], built in 1666 and featuring one of the lovely ''şadırvans'' (ablutions fountains) with internally painted domes for which the Amasya area is known. Much of the original mosque complex, including the hamam and the bedesten, survives and is still in use today.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MERZİFONLU KARA MUSTAFA PAŞA KÜLLİYESİ |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/merzifonlu-kara-mustafa-pasa-kulliyesi--amasya |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi |language=tr}}</ref>
==Notable natives==
*[[Kara Mustafa Pasha]] (1634–1683) Ottoman grand vizier held responsible for the failure to conquer [[Battle of Vienna|Vienna]]. The sultan received the report of this failure and ordered Kara Mustafa Pasha to have himself strangled. Being the obedient servant of the Ottoman Empire, he complied and was garotted with a silk cord in Belgrade on Christmas Day 1683.
==See also==
* [[Anatolia College in Merzifon]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://merzifon.bel.tr/ Merzifon municipality's official website] {{in lang|tr}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080925224844/http://www.merzifonlu.net/ Merzifonlu net] {{in lang|tr}}
{{Merzifon District}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Populated places in Amasya Province]]
[[Category:District municipalities in Turkey]]
[[Category:Merzifon District]]