Halfeti is a small town on the Euphrates in southeastern Turkey, known for the half-submerged remains of its old settlement. When the Birecik Dam filled in 2001, the river gorge became a long lake and part of Eski Halfeti slipped under the water.
That sounds bleak, and it is, but it also made one of the region's strangest and most memorable landscapes. Stone houses stand at the waterline, a mosque minaret rises from the lake, and boat trips run through the flooded gorge to Rumkale, a fortress on a rocky headland.
Halfeti works best as a day trip from Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, or Birecik. Come for the boat ride, walk the old riverside lanes, and do not expect a polished resort. The appeal is the odd beauty of a place that had to move but did not quite disappear.