Halfeti, Turkey : In Mesopotamia on the Euphrates

Half asleep, from the window of the car, I notice a non-descript river. Just when I am falling asleep again, my guide, Sehzat announces, “Now, we are entering Mesopotamia. This is river Euphrates that you are crossing.” The ring of the familiar names, Mesopotamia and Euphrates, wake me up. I must be nearing my destination – Halfeti, Turkey.

The vehicle has been whizzing from Gaziantep, through the twists and turns of the gentle hills of Anatolia, for sometimes now. Scores of Pistachio trees, a fruit widely cultivated in both Gaziantep and Sanliurfa provinces, blur past my eyes. A few more turns later, the car halts. I get off.

From the cliff, I watch the arid hills running down and smudging with the green tinged water shimmering in the sunlight. Small tourist boats ply on the water leaving their wakes behind. The excellent vantage point and the presence of the “I Love Halfeti” installation lures tourists and passersby on the highway here, for a quick photo stop. Beneath the lake fed by the Euphrates breathes Halfeti, now a sunken town.

In ancient times, the Euphrates river was an important trade corridor connecting the east of the world to the west. Empires and cities on the banks of this river became rich just by the virtue of their location, collecting taxes from the tradesmen who frequented the route. In 855 BCE, an Assyrian king invaded the region and named the settlement Sitamrat. Consequently, the settlement passed to the Greeks, Syriacs, Byzantines and Ottomans. In 1990s the construction of the Birecik dam on the Euphrates flooded the entire town. The residents of (sunken) Old Halfeti relocated to New Halfeti, a new settlement, 10-15 kilometres away from their now-flooded original hometown.

The Black Rose of Halfeti in Turkey

The road spirals down to the Marina of Halfeti, Turkey. Immediately, as I alight, a party of two speaking in Kurdish(probably) whisks me away to a store. A perfume is applied on my wrist, sweet and strong at the same time. I recognize the product they are trying to sell—the scent of the rare black rose.

The sunken town of Halfeti was home to this unique black coloured rose that grew here naturally. It is said that these roses, dark red in autumn and spring, turns black in summer. When the residents were relocated to New Halfeti, seedlings of the same rose plants failed to produce flowers black in colour. The olfactory element of the rose is so enchanting that, a British perfume house, Penhaligon, have a perfume, hand and body lotion line named after Halfeti. In reality, they are not pitch black but extremely dark shades of red that may appear black to the naked eye. The pH of the soil of Old Halfeti and its unique microclimate is responsible for the phenomena.

Maras Dondurma in Halfeti

Adjacent to the wharf, a shrill voice of a man yelling something in Turkish catches my fancy. Dressed in an Ottoman vest, a young boy stands beside him. The man holdsa ladle with a long handle at the tip of which sticks a blob of ice cream. A bewildered customer stands with a cone in her hand while the man bluffs her several times by pretending he is filling in the cone with the ice cream. Every time he turns the ladle upside down, he rings the metal bells dangling from his stall with another spoon and calls out Kiki Marash Dondurma. The ice cream never slips out. Later I come across various such stalls in Istanbul.

Kaharamanmarash is a city in Mediterranean Turkey, the origin of the ice cream. The dense-textured ice creams are melt-resistant due to the presence of mastic, a type of resin, and salep, flour from an orchid. Before leaving Halfeti, I indeed manage to taste a Marash Dondurma in one of the floating restaurants. Surprisingly, the dessert is served with a fork and knife! The chewy ice cream, more tangy than sweet, tastes like a lemon-flavoured candy.

On the waters of the Euphrates in Halfeti, Turkey

The promenade stretching along the bank of the lake is bedecked with shady trees and concrete benches. My stroll is cut short by Sehzat’s announcement, “The launch is ready to cruise now.” I settle on the top deck of the launch. The motor starts whirring, cutting through the water, leaving behind a trail of froth. The cluster of palm trees along the shore gradually grows smaller. The huddle of houses beneath them diminishes in the horizon. The extremely fertile village is home to pistachio, fig, pomegranate, olive and plums, but without the help of an expert, far away from the boat, I only recognize the palm trees.

Old Halfeti was a terraced village on the slopes of these hills. Flooding by the water released from the Berecik dam engulfed the lower slopes but a fraction of the settlement on the higher slopes remains. Now barely populated by 2000-3000 people, the mainstay of the villagers is tourism, animal husbandry and cultivation of pistachio and the black rose. Among these ordinary looking houses is Kanneci Konagi (Kanneci mansion), a 150 year old house belonging to Ahmet Kanneci, a famous classical guitarist in Turkey, recipient of the Fulbright scholarship for lifetime achievement in arts.

Caressed by the soft breeze of the Euphrates, my hair dances to the tune of the Turkish music at unevenly synchronized intervals. As the boat charters its way on the river-lake, the hug of the steep barren rocks, enhanced occasionally by shrubs, becomes tighter. Flat roofed structures are perched atop a tall vertical wall running along the edge of a hill. It is impossible to distinguish the natural rock from the manmade wall. It is Rumkale.

Rumkale, a seat of Christianity

The site of Rumkale was populated by various ancient civilizations like Sumerians and Babylonians before being developed under the Romans. Once upon a time, a city thrived inside the fort. Rumkale had its best days as a stronghold of the Christian Byzantine Empire. The Armenian Catholics too had a hold on Rumkale for a long time before it finally fell to the Muslims in late 1200s. It is believed that St. Lonannes (John), one of the apostles of Jesus, wrote a manuscript of the Bible and hid it here. Inside the fort, besides Roman baths, inns and houses, the most renowned  structures include the Aziz Nerses Church and the Barsavma Monastery. Rumkale, now undergoing restoration, is scheduled to open soon for tourists.

Savasan Village

A little farther along the waterway, a minaret protrudes from the surface of the water— Merkez Camii (Central Mosque). The semi-submerged mosque was constructed in 1844. Along the shore, a few flat roofed stone houses cling from the slope. In small natural caves, domesticated donkeys bray. This is Savasan, an abandoned village, now accessible only by boat. Though abandoned as a permanent residence, some locals have transformed their houses into restaurants. The sight of manicured gardens and tourists on the shore sipping beverages makes me thirsty, but our boat does not give a stop here.

Most of Old Halfeti, which now rests under water, can be experienced by scuba diving. Under the guidance of expert divers, interesting niches strewn around the lake bed can be explored and discovered. Unfortunately, I haven’t opted for it.

Food in Halfeti : Raki and Opium Kebaps

The hour-long tour ends with a filling lunch in one of the floating restaurants. The dining table flaunts juicy lamb and chicken kebaps garnished with onions, local herbs and opium! Opium lamb kebaps are a big hit in this region. It is accompanied by fresh green salad, creamy cheese, crispy bread and a local alcoholic beverage — Raki—to wash down the food with. Sehzat, gives me a valid warning – Raki, made with fermented grapes and aniseed, can be harsh on the nerves for first time drinkers. I, however, thoroughly enjoy the immediate stress bursting.

Finally, I leave Old Halfeti and move towards Adiyaman, preparing myself mentally for the sleepless night and hike the following day.

To watch my Sanliurfa video on Youtube, please click here.

Have you been to Halfeti or south-eastern Turkey? Do you want to know something about the place? Comment below and let me know!

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Disclaimer: Tania was hosted by Turkey Tourism Board. All thoughts and opinions expressed in the post are of her own.

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