, modern Turkish Osmancık, the administrative centre of an ilçe or district of the same name in the il or province of Çorum [see čorum ] in northern Anatolia, in the southern part of classical Paphlagonia. It lies on the Halys or Ḳi̊zi̊l I̊rmaḳ [q.v.] at an important crossing-point of that river by the Tosya-Merzifun road (lat. 40°58′ N., long. 34°50′ E., altitude 430 m/1,310 ft.).

The town is situated in a picturesque position at the foot of a volcanic hill which rises straight out of the plain and is crowned by a castle which formerly commanded the celebrat…