Day Trip West to Sunken Halfeti, Rumkale and the Bald Ibis of Birecik

Because the Cittaslow ("Slow City") river town of Halfeti and the Euphrates crossing town of Birecik belong administratively to Şanlıurfa province (sitting 80 to 110 kilometres west of central Şanlıurfa, right on the border with Gaziantep), visiting them is effortless either as a dedicated day trip from your Şanlıurfa hotel or as a 3-hour stopover when travelling between Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep.

1. Old Halfeti (Eski Halfeti), Savaşan Sunken Minaret & Rumkale Cruise

When the Birecik Dam filled its reservoir in 2000, the lower waterfront of Old Halfeti was submerged beneath the turquoise waters of the Euphrates, while the upper stone mansions, suspension pedestrian bridge and black-rose gardens remained dry along the new water's edge. Board a 1-hour shared wooden sightseeing boat (or private canopy boat) from the Old Halfeti quay:

• Savaşan ("The Sunken Village" / Batık Köy): twenty minutes north up the canyon, the boat glides into a quiet side inlet where the upper stone shaft and balcony of the 19th-century Savaşan Mosque minaret rises straight out of the middle of the river. Look up at the dry limestone cliff behind the minaret to see abandoned two-storey cut-stone houses, rock-cut caves and the old village school.
• Rumkale Fortress: fifteen minutes further north, the boat circles the sheer three-sided rock cliff of Rumkale, crowned by 12th-century Armenian and Mamluk ramparts, the Church of St Nerses and a 75-metre-deep spiral rock-cut well.
• Eat Shabut Fish on the Floating River Barges: back at Old Halfeti pier, lunch on floating river-pontoon restaurants serving charcoal-grilled Euphrates Şabut fish and black-rose ice cream.

2. The Northern Bald Ibis Sanctuary in Birecik (Kelaynak Üretme İstasyonu)

Thirty minutes south of Halfeti where the main highway crosses the Euphrates stands Birecik (guarded by its cliff-top white limestone Crusader-Mamluk castle). Three kilometres north of the bridge along the riverside cliffs sits the Birecik Northern Bald Ibis Conservation Station (free admission), the last home in Turkey of the critically endangered Kelaynak (Geronticus eremita), a glossy metallic-black bird with a bald red head and curved beak revered locally for centuries as the symbol of spring fertility and the bird that guided Noah's Ark after the Flood. Between mid-February and mid-July, the 300 birds fly freely out of their cliff cages to nest on the limestone ledges right above your head.