Lake Hazar ( tr, Hazar Gölü, hy, Ծովք լիճ, Covk‘ lič) is a
rift lake in the
Taurus Mountains
The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar'') are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğird ...
, 22 km southeast of
Elazığ
Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. It is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plain on which the city extends has an altitude of . ...
, notable as the source of the Tigris. It was formerly known as Lake Geoljuk.
During the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
the lake was used as an execution site.
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
The Eastern Anatolia Region ('' tr, Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi'') is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ.
It is bordered by the Bl ...
as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
.
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
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and
Ottoman era
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. In 2019,
amphora
An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...
tombs were also found in the sunken city.
Amphora tombs found in sunken city
/ref>
References
Hazar
Landforms of Elazığ Province
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