Halfeti - a sunken city in Turkey

About three weeks ago, we took a road trip to the southeastern part of Turkey and visited the ancient civilization ruins there. Though not an ancient one, sunken city Halfeti was very interesting to see, and eill be the first post of this travel series.

According to Wikipedia, Halfeti is a small farming district on the east bank of the river Euphrates in Şanlıurfa Province in Turkey, 120 km from the city of Şanlıurfa.

Most of the villages were submerged in the 1990s under the waters behind the dam on the Euphrates at Birecik. The town was therefore removed to the village of Karaotlak, the building of the new town is now complete.

As part of the Southeastern Anatolia Project, aka GAP, several dams were constructed in the area and surrounding regions as part of a larger agricultural and economic initiative by the Turkish Government. The town of Halfeti was among those settlements, ancient and contemporary, that would remain under the rising water levels of the local dams and rivers following the execution of the GAP.

Until the area was flooded in 1999, the people lived from fishing in the Euphrates and farming on the riverbank, especially growing pistachios. Then the waters came and 'new' Halfeti was built. Some buildings, including the jail, were pulled down and rebuilt in the new town. The old town of Halfeti is only partially submerged and is beginning to attract visitors, especially those who hire a ferry to visit the ruins of the nearby fortress of Rumkale (Qal'at ar-Rum).

The countryside is also attractive, although the green valley of the past is now underwater.