Lake Hazar


Lake Hazar , is a rift lake in the Taurus Mountains, 22 km southeast of Elazig, notable as the source of the Tigris. It was formerly known as Lake Geoljuk.

Sunken city

Scientists found 4,000-year-old archaeological traces of a city below the lake. The city has been submerged in Lake Hazar, since 1830. Turkey wants to register its historic 'Sunken City' in eastern Anatolia to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Ebubakar Irmak, Mayor of Sivrice, said he dove into the lake last year and saw the remains of churches, walls of a castle, pots, pottery and glazed plates of the citadel with traces of the Seljuk, Byzantine and Ottoman era. In 2019, amphora tombs were also found in the sunken city.