Merzifon

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Merzifon (Turkish: Merzifon) or Marzvan (Armenian: Մարզվան) otherwise Mersifunta (Greek Μερζιφούντα) is a city in Turkey, district capital in Amasya Province, located 37 km west of Amasya between the rivers Halis/Kizil Irmak and Yeshil Irmak at the foot of the mountains, in a picturesque and green plain.
The settlement was known in history as Pontic Pasemon. During the Roman era, the commander Pompey renamed it the city of Naples. According to Strabo, the city did not retain this name for long. In Armenian medieval sources, the settlement is mentioned under the name of Marzvan as the center of the eponymous district in the Roman, and later the Byzantine province of Lesser Armenia. Near it, the Byzantine emperor of Armenian origin, Hovhannes Chmshkik, defeated the Bulgarians. The city was badly damaged by the 1822 earthquake.

At the beginning of the 20th century it was a Greek-Armenian-Turkish city.
In the years 1800-1830, 18,000 inhabitants lived in it, of which 8,000 were Armenians.
In the years 1830-1850, 90,000 inhabitants, of which 9,500 were Armenians.
At the end of the 19th century, according to Garegin Srvandztyan, there were 6496 Armenians, 6874 Turks, 58 Greeks,
and in 1914 it had 35,000 inhabitants, of which 14,000 were Armenians.

There were three Armenian churches in Marzvan, one of which was St. Astvatsatsin built in 1835, famous for its splendor, 50 manuscripts were kept there. The city was the center of writing in the Middle Ages, and in the 19-20 centuries periodicals such as Zepyur (1889), Arusyak (1889), Haykuni (1910–1912), Boghbodzh (1911–1914), Nor Aig ( 1910–1914) were publishing.

By the beginning of the 20th century, places of pilgrimage such as Matur, Luys Borzor and Khachin Ler were still preserved in the city.

Saint Barbara was born in the city, a Greek Orthodox church was dedicated to her, existed until 1922. Merzifon was also the center of Protestant missionary activity. In 1886, the Anatolia American College was opened here.

After the Hamidian massacre in 1895 and the 1915 genocide, the Armenian and Greek communities were destroyed and their historical monuments were annihilated. Todays name Merzifon is a transformation of the Armenian name Marzvan.