Tokat is the capital city of Tokat Province of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is located at the confluence of the Tokat River (Tokat Suyu) with the Yesilirmak. In the 2018 census, the city of Tokat had a population of 155,000.

The city was established in the Hittite era. During the time of King Mithradates VI of Pontus, it was one of his many strongholds in Asia Minor.

Known as Evdokia or Eudoxia, ecclesiastically it was later incorporated into the western part of the Byzantine Greek Empire of Trebizond.

Some authors like Guillaume de Jerphanion and William Mitchell Ramsay identified Tokat with the ancient and medieval Dazimon, with Ramsay saying, "Dazimon, which seems to have been a fortress, must have been the modern Tokat, with its strong castle. Henri Grégoire, on the other hand, refuted this as implausible, because a 13th-century text written by Ibn Bibi clearly distinguishes Dazimon and Tokat as separate places. Instead, he said, Tokat should be identified with the town of Dokeia mentioned in another 10th-century text, by Theophanes Continuatus, which says that the Byzantine general John Kourkouas was born in a village near Dokeia sometime in the 9th century. According to Grégoire, the name "Dokeia" does not have a Greek etymology and probably represents an old Anatolian place name. The supposed derivation from "Eudokia", he claimed, is only a folk etymology that came much later.

After the Battle of Manzikert the town, like most of Asia Minor, came under the control of the Seljuk Turks. After the death of Sultan Suleiman ibn Qutulmish in 1086, the Emir Danishmend Gazi took control of the area, operating from his power base in the town of Sivas. It would be many decades before the Seljuks re-took control of that region, in the reign of Kilij Arslan II.

After the Battle of Köse Dag, Seljuk hold over the region was lost, and local Emirs such as the Eretna took power until the rise of the Ottomans, who captured the town in 1392.[3]

Prior to WWI, Tokat had 40,000 residents of which included 15,000 Armenians, 1,000 Greeks, and a small number of Jews.

The most important landmark is Tokat Castle, an Ottoman citadel with 28 towers on a rocky hill overlooking the town. Vlad the Impaler, who may have inspired Bram Stoker's fictional character Count Dracula, was imprisoned in one of its dungeons. Other sights include the remains of several Greek Orthodox churches and a cathedral, the Garipler Mosque dating to the 12th century, the Ali Pasa Mosque (16th century), the Hatuniye Külliyesi, also 16th century and the Gök Medrese (Pervane Bey Darussifasi), which was constructed in 1270. It was founded as a school of theology, and was converted into a museum, housing archaeological finds from the area, until that function was transferred in 2012 to another location.

The Latifoglu Konak, a late 18th-century Ottoman residence, is an example of Baroque architecture. The two-story building has been restored and has been converted into a small museum. Much of the furniture in the kitchen, study, visitors' rooms with bath and toilet, bedroom, master's room, and harem is original.

Ballica Cave is a small cave situated at 6 km (3.8 mi) southeast of Pazar, Tokat Province. Ballica Cave (Turkish: Ballica Magarasi), is a small cave situated at 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of Pazar, Tokat Province, Turkey. The cave is 600 m (2,000 ft) southeast of the village Ballica.

Ballica Cave is a fossil cave. Its overall length is 68 m (223 ft). The upper sections are composed of Permian–Triassic marble and lime. There are two layers above the entrance and five layers below, making a total of seven layers. Five layers were formed over three periods. One section stretches northeast and southwest, consisting of two layers. The second section, containing layers #3 and 34 were formed during the Second Evolutionary Period, and the 5th layer was formed in the 20th century. The gallery, which leads to some open space with a pond, is the first section in the northeast-southwest direction. It consists of the Stalactite and Stalagmite Hall on the first level, and the Fossil Hall and the Bat Hall on the second level. The Magnificent Gallery on the third floor is formed by the three adjoining halls: the Mushroom, Column, and the New Hall. Dwarf bat colonies live in different parts of the cave, and can be heard and smelled, but not often seen. The many colours in the cave are astonishing, and the filtered air is rich in oxygen.

About 45-50 m (148-164 ft) from the entrance, there is a wide saloon. The New Hall contains the remains (plastered walls, plastered material depot etc.) of use at sometime in history. There are numerous stalactites, stalagmites, pillars and water ponds inside the saloon.