MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN ITS FOLK SONGS

Would you like to get to know Elazığ more closely with its thousands-year-old history, natural beauties, and unique tastes?

Would you like to get to know Elazığ more closely with its thousands-year-old history, natural beauties, and unique tastes?

Elazığ is a city that I had come to know and love through its folk songs. While I was working in Zeytinburnu as the apprentice of Master Nedim, a mechanic from Elazığ, he’d often start singing one of the old folk songs with his touching voice which would go something like this, “Why did you not come and play with us / Why did you not join in the singing / I understand you’re busy in the morn’n / Why did you not come in the even’n.” I still recall how his eyes shone and his face lit up as he sang. Erkan Oğur’s “Elaziz Uzun Çarşı” folk song, which we sang in unison in friends’ gatherings, holds a very special place in my heart.

I start exploring the city from the Covered Bazaar right behind the PTT Square which holds the İzzet Pasha Mosque and the historical Government Building. Providing services since 1928, this market is lively throughout the day. With Elazığ’s delicacies on offer like Ağın roasted chickpeas, made by roasting the local chickpeas in sand with a special method; çir, prepared by sun drying the fruit known in Elazığ as aluça (green plums); gakh (kak), dried and sliced apples and pears; Baskil apricot; Şavak bryndza cheese; Çedene coffee served with bastuğ (dried fruit roll-up); and orcik (churchkhela) made from the world-renowned grapes with geographical indication registration in the vineyard cottages of Elazığ, this teeming market is veritably a place where tradesmen’s traditions are kept alive, and you can taste local delicacies without even asking for permission -it is a colorful world that holds the promise of a new surprise at every step. With the greasy bread I got from the stone oven bakery and the bryndza cheese from the marketplace, leaving from the south gate of the historical bazaar, I head towards the teahouse the residents of Elazığ refer to as “ocak başı.” After having my breakfast listening to the folk songs of Elazığ on the radio at this teahouse that serves the pewterand coppersmiths, I start to explore the old bazaar region in the heart of the city. The Covered Bazaar is also hosted here. The melodies of Elazığ

that accompany the small talk that reaches my ears during my tea breaks as I continue to stroll around the shops, tell me that Elazığ is thoroughly a city that thrives on music. Before leaving the market region, I visit the master milliner Nevzat who has been manufacturing the octagonal shaped hats specific to the region for half a century. Tea is ordered and conversation deepens. After listening to the intricacies of the job and the story of the octagonal hat of Elazığ from Master Nevzat, who now works with his niece after working with his brother for long years, I head over to Kültür Park set up on 445 acres of land to see the city’s modern features. Brought into service in 2014 with its artificial pond, sports complex, walking/jogging/cycling tracks, restaurants, cafeterias, viewing terraces, car park, festival areas, playgrounds, rose gardens and amphitheater, the park is a leisure area where inhabitants of Elazığ head for relaxation and entertainment. Kültür Park, one of the first places that come to mind when Elazığ is mentioned, and the resplendent cafés at the Abdullah Pasha locality are the most popular meeting points for university youth. Displaying examples of traditional Elazığ architecture with its bay-windowed houses, Kazım Efendi Street is my last stop in the city center.

From Keban to Hazarbaba

I head over to Keban borough, housing Keban Dam and Fırat University, both of which have given a new lease on life to the city, which is tranquil despite its thousand-year-old glorious past. After tasting the different kinds of trout dishes on offer in the trout restaurant by Çırçır Waterfall -the newest waterfall of both Turkey and the world- served along with the water from the latter, we head

over to the trout breeding farms set up at the dam lake. In the trout production premises of Keban, the most important trout production center of Turkey where over 1,500 residents of Elazığ are employed, 14,000 tons of trout are produced every year. Having seen how the fish are fed through the cameras installed in each of the cages where 150,000 tons of trout are bred, I return to my hotel in the city center. Next day, my first stop is the Hazarbaba Ski Center set up at an altitude of 2,347 meters on Mount Hazarbaba in the Sivrice borough. The ski center is the area’s most important tourist attraction, serving not only residents of Elazığ but also those coming from the surrounding cities with its premises, 1,100-meter-long cable car, and cafeteria. There are eight ski tracks at the center where you can ski enjoying the splendid views of Lake Hazar. After warming up with salep (traditional winter beverage made with milk and Anatolian orchid) at the center’s cafeteria, I head over to Harput, that is to say taş kale (stone castle) following the shores of Lake Hazar. The lake became all the more popular with the “Sunken City” hiding within its blue waters. It was consequently registered in 1991in order to be preserved as a landmark. Appearing before you reach the city, standing there for almost 2,800 years, Harput Castle is one of the most grandiose Urartian castles. It is said that Harput Castle, built by the Urartians in 800 BC, was constructed by adding milk instead of water to the mortar at a time when water was scarce but animals were lactating profusely. Hence, it is also known as “Milk Castle.” An important historical anecdote tells of King of Jerusalem Baldwin II and his knights who were captured and held in the dungeons of this castle for a month in 1123. And the person who captured them was Belek Gazi, the grandson of Artuk Bey, one of the famous commanders of Sultan Alparslan in the Malazgirt War, who turned Harput into a dominion in 1115. Known for his heroism against the crusaders, the statue of this

commander, greatly loved by the residents of Elazığ, can be seen at Balak Gazi Park in Harput.

First the Hurries and then the Hittites arrived in Elazığ, which was referred to as “Issua” in the written Hittite resources dating back 4,000 years and “Karpata” in the cuneiform tablets of the Assyrians. They were followed by the Urartians, Persians, Romans and, finally, the Turks. It is impossible not to be impressed by Harput, seemingly an open-air museum with the Syriac Virgin Mary Church built in AD 179 and the mosques, mausoleums, and historical houses dating back to the Artuqid and Ottoman eras. Leaving the castle behind, I head towards Ulu Mosque, the Artuqid structure famous for its inclined minaret. The mosque was built in 1157 for religious practice and accommodation. The mosque’s 832-year-old minbar built with the kündekari technique, which involves attaching the geometrically cut ebony wood without gluing or nailing, was moved a little further down the road to Kurşunlu Mosque, which is as old as the plane tree in its courtyard. Built under the aegis of Sare Hatun, the mother of Akkoyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan, in 1465 as a masjid, Sare Hatun Mosque and Cimşid Bey

Bathhouse, beside the mosque, are among the structures that draw the most attention in Harput. Serving as part of a restaurant these days, Cimşid Bey Bathhouse presents local delicacies like dövme soup, sırın, Harput meatballs, gömme and patila. Those who would like to take their loved ones a souvenir from Harput can drop by the souvenir shop run by women under the auspices of the municipality. Another place to be visited in Harput is the approximately 200-year-old Şefik Gül Culture House, constructed in stone and wood. Brought into service as a museum in 2005, this beautiful

mansion lends important clues about the appearance of old Harput houses from its door handles to its interior design.

The last stop of our Harput excursion is Kürsübaşı Reading and Culture House. Designed in 2014 as a place where the culture of Harput can be preserved by the Elazığ Special Provincial Administration, HADİKA (Harput Digital Town Archive) is where Harput culture is kept alive with its archive room, library, and reading halls; Kürsübaşı hall where the Kürsübaşı cultural activities are held; Mehmet Şerif Çaça clarinet hall; Enver Demirbağ music room, based on the archives of Yılmaz Kalender; and Gül’i Tebriz’i meeting halls. If you are lucky, you can bear witness to the rich musical heritage of Harput here. Melding classical with folk music, Harput music boasts a unique style not solely with its manner of singing but also the instruments used in its performances. If you didn’t have the pleasure of coming across such a performance, then you can start a musical convocation without any instruments by singing on your own. That’s what I do as I leave Harput on a snowy day. I leave the city murmuring the folk song that’s most fitting. “Did it snow on the caps of Harput / I’d sacrifice myself for its land and rock...”