Heart of Turkey’s rice-growing country Population: 30,500
Old name: Pimolisa
North of Çorum along a pleasant rural road, Osmancık huddles at the base of a dramatic plug of rock up which straggle the ruins of Kandiber Castle dating back to Selçuk times. The main entrance was close to the Kızılırmak river at the point where it’s crossed by the graceful 250m-long, 19-arch Koyunbaba Bridge, built in 1489, restored and still open to traffic. (Koyunbaba, an evliya or Muslim saint, is buried near Osmancık.)
Not far from the bus terminal stands the attractive İmaret Çami (Soup Kitchen Mosque) built in 1431 for Koca Mehmed Paşa, a grand vizier to Sultan Murad II.
Following the rock in the opposite direction you’ll come to the Akşemseddin Cami built in 1410 and named after the tutor of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror whose mother was from Osmancık.
In summer this is a great place to come and hang out in the family tea gardens facing the castle across the river. There are pedaloes for hire and a nausea-inducing wobbly pedestrian bridge just like the one in Avanos.
This part of Turkey is known for growing rice, including a strain of rice specially named Osmancık-97.
Sleeping
Merkez Kale Otel Newish, moderately-priced 27-room hotel near the castle. Tel: 0364-611 2525
Transport info
Dolmuşes leave from Çorum (78km) bus station roughly every hour. There are also dolmuşes from Merzifon.
