Hasankeyf and the New Hasankeyf

A 12,000 Year Old Cave Town On The Tigris With A 12th Century Artuqid Bridge, A Castle Cliff, A Seljuk Mosque And Thousands Of Cliff Dwellings, Mostly Flooded After The Ilisu Dam (2020), With The Minaret And Some Relocated Monuments In A Cultural Park. A Site Of Loss And Memory, Visited As A Viewpoint And An Open Air Museum · Hasankeyf, Batman

Hasankeyf is an ancient town on the Tigris River in Batman Province, in the south-east of Turkiye, about 40 km from the city of Batman. People lived in its cliffs for around 12,000 years (confirm), and the town grew with the Romans, the Artuqid, Ayyubid and Ottoman rulers. It was known for the cliff dwellings and caves, the castle on the rock, a medieval bridge whose stone piers still stand in the river and mosques and tombs. In 2019 and 2020 the filling of the reservoir behind the Ilisu Dam flooded most of the old town and valley, and many families moved to New Hasankeyf, a planned town on the plateau above (confirm dates). Several monuments, including the Zeynel Bey tomb and a mosque, were moved to a cultural park near the new town (confirm which). Today visitors come to see the castle cliff above the water, the piers of the old bridge, the moved monuments and the new town, and to understand a place that was both protected and flooded. The site is a sober one, a story of loss, rescue and argument.

Hasankeyf, a rock-cut town on the Tigris River about 40 km south-east of Batman, with the old town now largely under the Ilisu reservoir and a relocated New Hasankeyf nearby; coordinates approximate, Hasankeyf, Batman, Turkiye

Hasankeyf is a public landscape with no single gate, but the castle area, the cultural park and the museum have their own hours, commonly about 8 am to 5 or 6 pm and shorter in winter, with closing days varying by site (confirm). Boat trips on the reservoir, where they run, depend on weather, water level and demand, and may stop in winter (confirm). Cafes and restaurants keep their own hours and are busiest at midday and in the evening. Summer afternoons are very hot, so most visitors come before noon or after 4 pm. Daylight lasts to about 8:30 pm in June and fades by 5 pm in December.

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