Tunceli: The Munzur Valley and the Mountains of Dersim

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

What is Tunceli?

Tunceli is a small, very mountainous province in Eastern Anatolia, and the least densely populated province in Türkiye. Its capital, also called Tunceli, sits where the Munzur and Pülümür rivers meet, about 130 km by road north of Elazığ. The province is reached only by road.

Most people come for the Munzur. The river rises from springs at the foot of the Munzur Mountains near Ovacık and runs for roughly 65 km through a narrow, steep valley to the capital. That valley, with its oak woods, side canyons and glacial lakes higher up, has been protected as Munzur Valley National Park since 1971.

South of the capital, the land drops towards the Keban reservoir on the Euphrates. Pertek, on its shore, is a district of orchards and mulberry trees, and Pertek Castle stands on a rock island just offshore. Çemişgezek, further west, is an old town with Seljuk- and Ottoman-era mosques and tombs.

The province has its own identity. It is the only province in Türkiye with an Alevi majority, many people speak Zazaki or Kurmanji as well as Turkish, and springs, mountains and old trees are treated as sacred places. Visitors will notice candles and offerings at the Munzur Springs and at shrines along the valley.

Places to visit in Tunceli

Munzur Valley National Park

Munzur Valley National Park in Tunceli: the 420 km² river gorge between…

Munzur Springs

Munzur Springs (Munzur Gözeleri) near Ovacık, Tunceli: where the Munzur River rises,…

Pertek Castle

Pertek Castle in Tunceli: the Mengücek-era fortress left on an island when…

How do you get to Tunceli?

By air: Tunceli has no airport. The nearest is Elazığ, about 120 km from the city centre, with domestic flights from Istanbul and Ankara. Erzincan Airport, to the north, is the other option; the road from Erzincan to Tunceli is about 146 km. Most travellers fly to Elazığ and hire a car or take a bus north.

By road: The road from Elazığ is 136 km between city centres. A shorter route crosses the Keban reservoir by ferry at Pertek: the old Pertek–Elazığ bridge was flooded by the dam lake, so car ferries now make the crossing. The provincial culture and tourism directorate gives a service from 07:00 to 19:00, departing on the hour from both shores, with a crossing time of about ten minutes and around half an hour onward to Elazığ city centre. Buses run to Tunceli from Elazığ, Erzincan and the main cities.

By rail: No railway enters the province. The nearest lines pass through Erzincan to the north and Elazığ to the south.

Distances from the capital: Nazımiye 36 km, Mazgirt 40 km, Pertek 51 km, Ovacık 65 km, Pülümür 65 km, Hozat 96 km and Çemişgezek 117 km, according to the directorate.

On the road: UK travel advice does not single out Tunceli. As elsewhere in eastern Türkiye, expect gendarmerie checkpoints on rural roads; slow down, follow instructions and do not photograph military installations.

Where should you stay in Tunceli?

Tunceli city is the practical base. It has a small number of mid-range hotels and guesthouses, restaurants serving Munzur trout, and quick access to the national park entrance about 8 km up the Ovacık road. Ovacık, at the top of the valley, has simple guesthouses and is closer to the springs and the high mountains. Campers use designated spots along the river in summer. Pertek has a few small hotels near the shore, useful if you arrive by the ferry from Elazığ.

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What type of climate does Tunceli have?

Tunceli has a continental mountain climate. Winters are long and harsh, with heavy snow on the high ground; the Munzur Mountains rise to around 3,300 m and hold snow well into early summer. Annual precipitation in the national park is between 600 and 1,000 mm. Summers are warm and dry in the valleys and around the Keban reservoir, cooler in Ovacık and on the yaylas (summer pastures).

When is the best time to visit Tunceli?

Mid-June to the end of August is the most reliable window for the national park, the springs and walking in the high valleys; snow can block upper routes before and after. June is also the season of spring meltwater, when the Munzur is fast and cold and rafting is at its best. September brings clear light and the Pülümür Honey Festival, and the mulberry harvest in Pertek and Çemişgezek falls in early summer. Winter visits are possible to the capital and the lower valley, and the snow-covered gorge is striking, but mountain roads can close.

What is the history of Tunceli?

The region was known as Ishuva in the 2nd millennium BC, a Hurrian kingdom that later came under Hittite rule. It then formed the western edge of Urartu, and passed in turn to the Medes, the Achaemenid Persians and Alexander the Great. In the Middle Ages the area around Pertek and Çemişgezek was held by Anatolian Turkish dynasties, among them the Mengücek beys, who built Pertek Castle in its present form, and later the Akkoyunlu. The Ottomans took control after the Battle of Çaldıran in 1514, but the mountains kept a large degree of local autonomy for centuries.

The 2002 inventory notes that the district of Mazgirt holds many castle ruins from the Urartian period: Mazgirt Castle and the castles of Dedebağ, Kaleköy and Sağman. It also lists the Yelmaniye, Ulukale, Baysungur, Çelebi Ali and Sağman mosques and the Hamidiye Madrasa as Ottoman-period works, and the Eltihatun Mosque and the tombs of Uzun Hasan and Eltihatun as works of the Akkoyunlu period.

In the early Republic, the region was made a district of Elazığ in 1926. The Tunceli Law of 1935 created the present province under its new name and placed it under an extraordinary administration. The military operations of 1937–1938 caused heavy loss of life and the displacement of tens of thousands of people; the special regime was lifted in 1946. These events remain an important part of local memory.

The Keban Dam, completed in 1974, reshaped the south of the province. The reservoir flooded the valley floor around Pertek and turned the castle rock into an island.

What is Tunceli famous for?

The Munzur Valley. The 2002 inventory describes the Munzur Mountains in the north of the province and the Munzur River, formed by ice-cold waters gushing from the rocks along roughly 200 km at their feet, as giving Tunceli both its life and its natural beauty. The narrow, deep valley of the river between Tunceli and the Ovacık springs is protected as a national park.

Sacred nature. The Munzur Springs near Ovacık are a pilgrimage place for Alevis, and the river itself is regarded as holy. Visitors are expected to treat these places with the same respect as a mosque or church.

Wildlife. The national park is home to brown bear, grey wolf, lynx, chamois, wild goat, otter and raptors including golden eagle and bearded vulture. It has more registered plant species than any other national park in Türkiye.

Music. Tunceli is closely associated with the bağlama and with Alevi and Zaza folk song, and the provincial directorate publishes recordings of the region’s music.

What are the historical places of Tunceli?

Pertek Castle. The inventory states that Pertek Castle was built in the Mengücek period on a pointed rock, and that it now stands like an island in the Keban reservoir. See our Pertek Castle guide.

Mazgirt castles. Mazgirt Castle, above the district town 40 km east of the capital, and the castles of Dedebağ, Kaleköy and Sağman are Urartian strongholds according to the inventory. The ruins at Kaleköy are also named in the inventory as a sight in their own right.

Çemişgezek. The old town above the Keban reservoir has the Yelmaniye Mosque and other Ottoman-period mosques listed in the inventory. The inventory also mentions houses carved into the rocks west of the town and the mills on the Tağar stream. In the south of the district, the Pulur (Sakyol) mound shows settlement in the area from about 5500 BC.

Eltihatun Mosque and tombs, Mazgirt. The inventory dates the Eltihatun Mosque and the tombs of Uzun Hasan and Eltihatun to the Akkoyunlu period.

Tunceli Museum. The provincial museum in the capital covers the region’s history, culture and religious heritage.

What are the best things to do in Tunceli?

• Drive or cycle the Munzur Valley road. The asphalt road from Tunceli to Ovacık follows the river through the national park, past side gorges, small waterfalls and picnic spots.
• Raft the Munzur. The inventory notes that the Munzur, Pülümür and Peri rivers are well suited to rafting because of their volume and speed. Early summer, when the water is high, is the season; ask in Tunceli city about guided trips.
• Walk in the mountains. The inventory recommends the Munzur range north of Ovacık, the oak-covered hills south of the district, the Karasu–Aras mountains in the northeast, which rise to 3,292 m, and the Bağırpaşa mountains for mountaineering, walking and skiing.
• Visit the yaylas. Tunceli is one of the most mountainous parts of Eastern Anatolia, and the summer pastures on its high mountains, with their varied plant cover, are, in the inventory’s words, an important resource for plateau tourism. The inventory names the Buyerbaba pastures in Pülümür.
• Watch the dawn from Bağırpaşa. The inventory singles out the play of colours in the valley at sunrise, seen from Bağırpaşa Mountain in Pülümür.
• Fish for trout. The Munzur and the Mercan stream are rich in trout; sport fishing is one of the park’s listed activities.
• Time your visit with a festival. The provincial directorate lists the Pülümür Honey Festival in September, the Pertek Mulberry Festival in July and the Çemişgezek Mulberry and Cheese Festival in early summer.
• Bathe at Bağın. The inventory names the Bağın hot springs in Mazgirt among the province’s sights.

What are the best places to visit in Tunceli?

Munzur Valley National Park covers 420 km² of the Munzur gorge and the mountains above it, from just outside the capital to Ovacık: oak woods, side valleys such as the Mercan, glacial lakes and abundant wildlife.

Munzur Springs (Munzur Gözeleri), near Ovacık, are the source of the river: icy water bursting from the base of the mountain, and one of the most important sacred places in Alevi belief.

Pertek Castle rises from a rock island in the Keban reservoir off Pertek, a medieval stronghold left standing in the water when the dam was filled in 1974.

Also worth your time: the Pülümür valley and its pastures, Çemişgezek’s old mosques, and Mazgirt’s castles. Neighbouring provinces worth combining with Tunceli are Elazığ, with Harput, and Erzincan to the north.

What is the traditional food of Tunceli?

Food here follows the mountains and the herds: dairy, bulgur, wild greens and honey. Trout from the Munzur and Mercan is the dish visitors look for; restaurants along the river in the capital and in the national park serve it grilled or pan-fried. Babuko is often named as Tunceli’s most distinctive traditional dish, made from simple local ingredients. Pülümür is known for honey, celebrated each September at its honey festival, and Çemişgezek and Pertek for mulberries and cheese.

What should you buy in Tunceli?

Pülümür honey, dried mulberries and mulberry pekmez (molasses) from Pertek and Çemişgezek, and local cheeses are the practical souvenirs. Hozat is named in the inventory as the place to see the region’s finest handicrafts and its folklore.

Frequently asked questions about Tunceli

What do the official records say about Tunceli?

With its untouched natural beauty, its game animals, its mountain sports and its important historical remains, Tunceli Province has the qualities to contribute to our country’s tourism. With its steep mountains covered in snow in all four seasons, its bare rocks, oak forests, wide meadows and pastures, its healing hot springs that create extraordinary plays of colour with the deposits that gush from the heart of the mountains, and the delicious trout that dart in its deep, clear-flowing waters, Tunceli is one of the most interesting tourist areas of our country.

The Munzur Valley, the Mercan Valley and the Pülümür Valley, where each of the four seasons has its own beauty, are rare places that can be visited as national parks. The district of Pertek, which stretches along the shore of the Keban Dam Lake and looks like an orchard worked with a thousand shades of green, has made a name for itself with its natural beauty. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Tunceli Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)