{"id":18927,"date":"2020-10-23T10:19:10","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T07:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/?p=18927"},"modified":"2023-06-22T11:47:25","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T08:47:25","slug":"sunken-city-halfeti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/sunken-city-halfeti\/","title":{"rendered":"An ancient city under the Euphrates River: Halfeti"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sunken city: Halfeti <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Sava\u015fan<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Located in western \u015eanl\u0131urfa, Halfeti is a quiet, charming town. About half of the city was flooded during the construction of the Birecik Dam in 2000, and local residents were settled about 15 kilometers away. Lapped by the waters of the Euphrates River, the submerged village offers a glimpse of timelessness, with ancient stone houses, mosques and trees, some of which appear to be rising out of the water. The underwater village can be visited by boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a place where history lives, the ancient city of Halfeti was founded in the 9th century B.C. by the Assyrian king Salmanassar III and later hosted the Hittite, Persian, Macedonian and Seleucid civilizations. The historical richness of Halfeti also bears traces of the Abbasid, Umayyad, Seljuk, Zengi and Ayyubid cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

In 2013, Halfeti was included in the Slow City network by the Cittaslow International Coordination Committee and, more recently, it has attracted attention with developments in the tourism field. Now visited by approximately 650,000 tourists each year, Halfeti is a special destination for an autumn holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How to get to Halfeti <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With a population of 40,000 people, Halfeti is a small district in \u015eanl\u0131urfa. It is 110 kilometers from \u015eanl\u0131urfa town and about 105 kilometers from Gaziantep; both the \u015eanl\u0131urfa and Gaziantep airports are convenient to Halfeti. Many visitors opt to arrive in \u015eanl\u0131urfa, which features a number of historical sites, including Bal\u0131kl\u0131g\u00f6l (the Pool of Abraham), the \u015eanl\u0131urfa Archaeology Museum, the Mevlid-i Halilurrahman Cave, Urfa Castle, the Rizvaniye Mosque and the Haleplibah\u00e7e Mosaic Museum. If time allows, the spectacular archaeological site of G\u00f6beklitepe is just 20 kilometers from the \u015eanl\u0131urfa center. For more information on G\u00f6beklitepe and its 12,000-year-old temple, please see 5 Questions about G\u00f6beklitepe<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Halfeti is accessible via private vehicle or by minibuses departing from the \u015eanl\u0131urfa and Gaziantep Bus Terminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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