Kemah, about 50 kilometres west of Erzincan, is a small town clinging to a tight bend of the Karasu (upper Euphrates) under a high rock outcrop crowned by a ruined Byzantine and Seljuk citadel. From the early twelfth century until the Mongol conquest, Kemah was the capital of the Mengücek dynasty, a minor Turkmen emirate that controlled much of this stretch of mountains.
The tomb of Mengücek Gazi, the dynasty's eponymous founder, stands at the foot of the castle and is the main draw. It is a plain rectangular kümbet with a pyramidal roof, restored several times. The castle itself is largely ruined but offers a fine view over the river and the gorge. Kemah is on the Erzincan-Divriği road and makes an easy half-day excursion combined with the upper Euphrates valley.