Surgical Instruments Museum

This was a hotel when Atatürk stayed, and it later served as accommodation for railway construction workers. In 2011 it became a museum of city history.

Launched in Paisley in 1878, this small freighter-cum-ferry plied the Med, and took its best-known name (for a Marmara sea port) in 1910. In 1919 it conveyed Mustafa Kemal Pasha here to supervise the disbanding of defeated Ottoman troops; but instead he rallied the troops and began the war for Turkish independence. The ship retired in 1924 and was scrapped, but a full-scale replica was built, and opened in 2006 as a museum of those days. There isn't much English, so be ready with your translator.

"Gazi" also translates as "heroes", and this documents Atatürk's activities in Samsun, with old photos, maps and personal items.

Old toys of all kinds, mostly dolls.

Shambolic museum of the independence struggle, in which nothing works. Where's a strong capable leader when you need one?

This hill would make a great tourist attraction, and the city probably thought so too many years ago, as the abandoned concrete structures imply. At 140m with no obstructions, you get a far better view of the city than you get from the actually developed Amisos hill. In fact, it's probably the best natural view you'll get over a city anywhere in Turkey.