Tombs of the kings of Pontus


The Tombs of the kings of Pontus, located in Amasya, northern Turkey, are rock-carved tombs of different size, forming the royal necropolis of the Pontic kings.
The site was added to the tentative list in the cultural category of UNESCO World Heritage Site on April 13, 2014.
The royal necropolis is located on the southern hillside of the -high Mount Harşena north of the city Amasya and the river Yeşilırmak. The monumental king tombs are carved in limestone rock formation after Mithridates I established the Kingdom of Pontus and made Amaseia the capital city. The tombs contain big stone grave chambers inside. The area is called "Valley of the Kings" in respect to the kingdom's size as the largest in northern Anatolia and its glorious past for hundreds of years during the Hellenistic period.
Five king tombs are situated in the Maidens' Palace area and belong to Mithridates I, Ariobarzanes, Mithridates II, Mithridates III and Pharnaces I. There are nine more rock-tombs inside the Amasya Fortress on the slope of the Mt. Harşena. The total number of rock-carved royal tombs around the city amounts to 21.
The rock tombs are high. Three of the group of five tombs are reached by two separate staircases cut into the rock, and the other two tombs by a tunnel with steps. The grave chambers inside each of the five tombs are accessible only by a ladder due to their high position of the entrance. Three of the tombs have columns in the facade, one tomb with six and the other two tombs have four columns. The other two tombs without columns have rounded tops. The largest tomb, which is known to belong to Pharnaces I, has dimensions of. An inscription is carved above the rock-tomb, which reads as "the phrourarch Metrodorus dedicated an altar and a flower-bed for the king Pharnaces I to the gods".