Rumkale Fortress and Sunken Halfeti: Euphrates River Canyon Boat Trip

Sixty kilometres north-east of central Gaziantep, the mighty Euphrates River (Fırat Nehri) carves a deep, winding limestone canyon before opening into the calm turquoise reservoir created by the Birecik Dam in 2000. Here, where the border of Gaziantep province meets Şanlıurfa province right down the middle of the river, stands the dramatic cliff-top fortress of Rumkale on the western (Gaziantep) bank and the partially submerged stone villages of Halfeti and Savaşan on the eastern bank. It is the single most popular half-day or full-day excursion from Gaziantep.

Two Ways to Experience the Euphrates Canyon

Depending on whether you want to stay on the quieter western canyon rim in Gaziantep's Yavuzeli district or drive around to the eastern pier in Halfeti, you have two scenic boarding points for the 60-minute wooden riverboat cruise:

• Option 1: From the Gaziantep (Western) Bank at Kasaba Pier & Rumkale Glass Terrace (45 mins from Gaziantep): drive north via Yavuzeli to the village of Kasaba, where Gaziantep Municipality built the Rumkale Glass Viewing Terrace (Cam Teras) projecting 200 metres above the emerald bend where the Merzimen Stream joins the Euphrates. Walk down (or drive) to the Kasaba pier right opposite the fortress to board a wooden sightseeing boat that circles Rumkale and sails down the canyon to the sunken minaret of Savaşan.
• Option 2: From Old Halfeti Pier on the Eastern Bank: cross the Euphrates at Birecik and drive up the eastern shore to Old Halfeti (Eski Halfeti), a Cittaslow ("Slow City") town where stone houses and floating river-barge restaurants line the water's edge and excursion boats depart every 20 minutes up the gorge to Savaşan and Rumkale.

What You See on the River Cruise

1. Rumkale: perched on a sheer three-sided rock promontory rising straight out of the turquoise river, this strategic fortress is associated in early Christian tradition with St John the Apostle. In the 12th and 13th centuries, it served for 140 years as the seat of the Armenian Apostolic Catholicos (Patriarch) and a famous scriptorium before falling to the Mamluks in 1292. Spot the 12th-century Church of the Poet-Saint Nerses the Graceful, the Barşavma Monastery and a 75-metre-deep spiral rock-cut water well reaching down to river level.
2. The Sunken Minaret of Savaşan Village (Batık Minare): fifteen minutes north along the canyon, the boat glides right beside the upper half of a 19th-century stone mosque minaret rising surrealistically out of the middle of the river, backed by abandoned stone houses and cave dwellings on the dry upper slope.
3. The Black Rose of Halfeti (Karagül): in spring (April to May) and autumn (October to November), the mineral-rich soil and microclimate along the river produce a unique rose variety that blooms in a deep, velvety pitch-black crimson.