Erzincan: Kemaliye, the Dark Canyon and the Upper Euphrates

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1. What is Erzincan?
2. How do you get to Erzincan?
3. Where should you stay in Erzincan?
4. What type of climate does Erzincan have?
5. When is the best time to visit Erzincan?
6. What is the history of Erzincan?
7. What is Erzincan famous for?
8. What are the historical places of Erzincan?
9. What are the best things to do in Erzincan?
10. What are the best places to visit in Erzincan?
11. What is the traditional food of Erzincan?
12. What should you buy in Erzincan?
13. Frequently asked questions about Erzincan
14. What do the official records say about Erzincan?

What is Erzincan?

Erzincan is a province on the upper course of the Euphrates in Eastern Anatolia, and the name of its capital, a modern city on a broad, fertile plain ringed by mountains. To the south rise the Munzur Mountains; to the north, the Keşiş range. The 2002 provincial inventory describes Erzincan as one of the oldest cultural centres of Anatolia and a province covered in mountains and plateaus, almost all of it above 1,000 m.

The city itself is young. The old town was destroyed by the earthquake of December 1939 and a new city was laid out a little to the north, so Erzincan’s monuments are mostly out in the province: the Urartian hilltop citadel of Altıntepe, the Saltukid Mama Hatun complex in Tercan, the castle of Kemah and, in the far southwest, the wooden town of Kemaliye above the Euphrates and the Dark Canyon.

The inventory also sells the province as a place for people looking for an alternative to sea, sand and sun, with exceptional potential for nature sports. That still holds: Girlevik Waterfall freezes into an ice-climbing wall in winter, the Ergan ski centre is a short drive from the city, and the Karasu and Euphrates are rafted in spring.

Places to visit in Erzincan

Kemaliye

Kemaliye (Eğin) in Erzincan: UNESCO-tentative timber houses above the Euphrates, the 1,000…

Altıntepe

Altıntepe near Erzincan: an 8th-century BC Urartian citadel with temple, columned hall…

Mama Hatun Complex

Mama Hatun Complex in Tercan, Erzincan: a Saltukid tomb inside a unique…

Girlevik Waterfall

Girlevik Waterfall near Erzincan: a three-tier, 30–40 m fall that freezes for…

How do you get to Erzincan?

By air: Erzincan Yıldırım Akbulut Airport (ERC), opened in 1988, lies just outside the city. Turkish Airlines flies from Istanbul Airport, AJet and Pegasus from Sabiha Gökçen, and AJet from Ankara. There are no international flights, so overseas visitors connect in Istanbul or Ankara. Erzurum airport is an alternative for the east of the province.

By rail: The Doğu Ekspresi (Eastern Express) between Ankara and Kars stops at Erzincan and at İliç, the station for Kemaliye and the Dark Canyon. The winter-only Turistik Doğu Ekspresi makes a timed stop of about two and a half hours in Erzincan on the way east, and stops at İliç on the return.

By road: Erzincan is on the main road between Sivas and Erzurum, with coaches from Istanbul, Ankara and the major eastern cities. Kemaliye is about 160 km from the city by road. Mountain roads in the south of the province can be closed by snow in winter.

Where should you stay in Erzincan?

Erzincan city is the practical base for Altıntepe, Girlevik, the Ergan ski centre and Tercan, with business hotels in the centre. There are also hotels at the foot of Ergan Mountain for skiers.

For Kemaliye and the Dark Canyon, stay in Kemaliye itself. A few of the old timber mansions have been opened to guests, and an evening in the quiet streets is part of the experience. Kemaliye is a small town, so book ahead for holidays.

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What type of climate does Erzincan have?

Erzincan has a continental climate with cold, snowy winters and hot, dry summers. Sitting about 700 m lower than Erzurum, the Erzincan plain is noticeably milder. The mountains around it are another matter: snow lies on the high ground for much of the year, the Ergan ski centre has skiing for about five months, and Girlevik Waterfall freezes solid in hard winters.

Kemaliye, deep in the Euphrates valley in the southwest, has a gentler climate of its own, with mulberry orchards and gardens on its terraces.

When is the best time to visit Erzincan?

May, June, September and October are the best months for touring. Rafting on the Karasu takes place mainly in May and June, and April and May are the season for adventure sports around the Dark Canyon. Summer is good for hiking in the Munzur and Keşiş mountains, where the high pastures are open.

Winter suits skiers at Ergan and ice climbers at Girlevik. The stone road to Kemaliye through the Dark Canyon can be closed or icy in winter, so check before you go.

What is the history of Erzincan?

The inventory sets out a long sequence. Zuhma, which appears in Assyrian sources, is the oldest known name of the area. Around 2000 BC Hurrian rule in the region ended and the Hayasa took their place. Lying on the route of the historic Silk Road, the city was ruled by the Hittites, Urartians, Medes, Persians, Hellenistic kingdoms and Romans, and after the victory at Manzikert it came under Turkish and later Ottoman rule.

The Urartians left the most impressive early monument: Altıntepe, a hilltop citadel of the 8th century BC with a temple, a columned audience hall and rock-cut tombs. In the Armenian period the town, then called Erez, held a famous shrine of the goddess Anahit, which was destroyed after King Trdat converted to Christianity. The inventory quotes Evliya Çelebi, who called Erzincan “a place like a garden of paradise, for which many thousands of rulers have struggled”, a line that sums up how often it changed hands.

After 1071 the area passed to Turkish rule. The Saltukids of Erzurum built the Mama Hatun complex in Tercan around the turn of the 13th century, and the Mengücekids ruled from Erzincan and Kemah. The Ottomans took the city in 1514. Russian forces occupied it from July 1916 until February 1918.

The city’s greatest disaster came on 27 December 1939, when a magnitude 7.8 earthquake destroyed it. Tens of thousands died across the region in the quake and the floods and aftershocks that followed. The old site was abandoned and a new town was built a little further north, which is why central Erzincan today looks entirely modern.

What is Erzincan famous for?

Kemaliye and the Dark Canyon. A town of timber-and-stone houses on a steep slope above the Euphrates, on UNESCO’s Tentative List since 2021, and beside it a canyon roughly 1,000 m deep with a hand-cut road through its cliffs.

Tulum cheese. Erzincan tulum peyniri, a crumbly, salty cheese ripened in skins or casings, was registered as a Protected Designation of Origin by the European Union in 2025.

Urartian Altıntepe. One of the best-preserved Urartian sites; its ivories, bronzes and wall paintings are in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara and the Erzincan Museum.

Frozen waterfall climbing. The inventory notes that Erzincan was then the only place in Türkiye where frozen waterfall climbing could be done, on the ice of Girlevik.

What are the historical places of Erzincan?

Altıntepe. 15 km from the city, 100 m north of the Erzincan–Erzurum road. The inventory calls it one of the best-preserved Urartian cities to survive, with a temple-palace complex protected by two concentric walls, tombs and houses.

Mama Hatun Complex. In Tercan, a caravanserai, bath, mosque and circular tomb built by Mama Hatun, daughter of the Saltukid ruler İzzeddin Saltuk II.

Kemah Castle. The inventory describes it as one of the oldest natural castles of Anatolia, its foundation going back to the Hittite–Urartian period. It stands on steep rock, has two structures one inside the other, and is surrounded by walls.

Abrenk Church. Near Üçpınar village in Tercan. The inventory records the date 1854 over the entrance, a chapel and two standing stones that draw attention with their architecture and decoration.

Tombs. The inventory names the tombs of Terzibaba, Hıdır Abdal Sultan and Melik Gazi as worth seeing.

Kemaliye. The old Ottoman town of Eğin, with some 470 buildings in its historic centre, 125 of them registered as cultural property.

Erzincan Museum. In the city centre, with finds from the Altıntepe excavations, medieval glazed ceramics and Byzantine coins, plus Roman, Seljuk and Ottoman material.

What are the best things to do in Erzincan?

• Drive the Taş Yol. The stone road cut into the cliffs of the Dark Canyon near Kemaliye: about 7 km with 38 tunnels, started in 1870 and finished in 2002.
• Ice climb or picnic at Girlevik. The waterfall near Çağlayan, about 30 km from the city, freezes into icicles in winter and is a cool picnic spot in summer.
• Ski at Ergan. The Ergan Mountain ski centre opened in 2013, with four runs totalling about 12 km and gondola and chairlift links. The inventory notes paragliding from Ergan Tepesi above Yaylabaşı and near Küçük Çakırman village.
• Raft the Karasu. The inventory describes rafting on the Sansa stream section of the Karasu, about 40 km from the city on the Erzincan–Erzurum road, mainly in May and June.
• Hike the Munzur and Keşiş mountains. The inventory lists routes from Yaylabaşı to the Melan pasture in the Munzurs, and from Karakaya and Çayırlı to the crater lake of Aygır Gölü, the Yedigöller (Seven Lakes) and Esence peak in the Keşiş range.
• Drink from the Ekşisu springs. 11 km from the city; the inventory notes that the naturally carbonated Böğert mineral water is bottled and distributed nationwide, and there is a 33 °C thermal spring nearby.
• See Otlukbeli Lake. The inventory says its basin and formation are unique among known lake types, and it has been declared a natural protected site.
• Visit the ice caves. The caves at Ayranpınar in Kemah stay cold in summer and hold large masses of ice; villagers have used them to store cheese and butter.

What are the best places to visit in Erzincan?

Kemaliye is the old town of Eğin above the Euphrates: stepped streets, timber-framed houses and the Dark Canyon and Taş Yol on its doorstep.

Altıntepe is the Urartian citadel on a 60 m hill east of the city, with a temple, columned hall and three underground tombs, now laid out as an open-air archaeological park.

Mama Hatun Complex in Tercan has a tomb ringed by a circular wall that the inventory calls unique in Anatolian tomb architecture, and a 51 m-square caravanserai.

Girlevik Waterfall tumbles in three steps from springs below the Munzur Mountains and turns to ice in winter.

Also worth your time: Kemah Castle, the Erzincan Museum and the Ekşisu springs. Across the provincial borders lie Erzurum to the east and Bayburt to the north.

What is the traditional food of Erzincan?

The inventory describes the local kitchen as rich in kinds of dishes, most of them pastry and dough. Eşgili, kesme çorba (a flour soup with hand-cut noodles) and yaprak sarma (stuffed vine leaves) are the main dishes, while su böreği, and especially kete and sweet pastries, are eaten often.

In Kemaliye, look for lök, a sweet of almonds, walnuts, honey and sugar, and mulberry and walnut sucuk. Erzincan’s mulberry and fruit pestil (dried fruit leather) is also made by hand across the province.

What should you buy in Erzincan?

Tulum cheese. The inventory recommends Erzincan tulum cheese and Erzincan pan-roasted chickpeas (tava leblebisi) as the things to buy. The cheese now carries EU Protected Designation of Origin status.

Kemaliye door knockers. Kemaliye’s houses have two knockers on the front door, one for men and one for women, each with a different sound, so the household knows who should answer. Workshops near the town car park still make them.

Pestil and lök. Fruit leather and nut sweets from Kemaliye travel well.

Frequently asked questions about Erzincan

What do the official records say about Erzincan?

Erzincan, located on the upper course of the Euphrates in the Eastern Anatolia Region, is one of the oldest cultural centres of Anatolia. Zuhma, mentioned in Assyrian sources, is the oldest known name of the region. Evliya Çelebi’s words, “a place like a garden of paradise, for which many thousands of rulers have struggled to take it”, point to the way Erzincan constantly changed hands between different peoples.

Erzincan province is covered by mountains and plateaus. With its natural beauty above 1,000 m of altitude it is extremely well suited to those looking for alternatives beyond the sea–sand–sun trio, and the potential the province holds for nature sports tourism is exceptional. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Erzincan Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)