Erzincan

Districts

• Çayırlı
• Erzincan Merkez
• İliç
• Kemah
• Kemaliye
• Otlukbeli
• Refahiye
• Tercan
• Üzümlü

Experiences

Key points of interest

Girlevik Waterfall (Girlevik Şelalesi)

Multi-tiered natural waterfall cascading over travertine terraces, famous for summer cool picnicking and winter ice climbing.

Altıntepe Urartian Fortress & Palace

9th-century BC Urartian royal fortress, temple, and tomb complex offering panoramic vistas across the Erzincan Plain.

Ergan Mountain Winter Sports & Ski Center

Premier ski resort featuring Turkey's longest continuous ski slope (12km), modern gondola lifts, and lake vistas.

Karanlık Canyon & Historic Stone Road (Kemaliye)

One of the world's deepest river gorges, famous for international base-jumping, canoeing, and hand-carved cliff tunnels.

Kemah Castle & Euphrates River Valley

Imposing ancient stone fortress perched on sheer river cliffs, guarding the historic Upper Euphrates trade route.

Investment outlook

Erzincan commands a Transparent Investment Score of 88.2/100, recognized as Eastern Anatolia's most resilient, low-risk, and high-potential renewable energy, organic agro-industry, and eco-tourism market. Positioned strategically on the E-80 international highway corridor and regional rail lines connecting Iran and the Caucasus to central Türkiye, Erzincan offers major logistics advantages. Residential and land buy prices average $950/m² (exceeding $1,800/m² in prime low-rise commercial residential sectors in Erzincan Central and Kemaliye) with rapid annual capital appreciation (~45.2% YoY in USD). Real estate demand is heavily sustained by Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University's expanding student body, mining and logistics executives, and eco-tourism investors. The province features robust seismic building codes (average building age 13.5 years, built post-1992 earthquake) and 100% solid bedrock foundation planning.

Living here

Residing in Erzincan represents a clean, peaceful, family-oriented, and nature-integrated lifestyle with minimal urban traffic, pristine mountain air, and affordable living costs. Neighborhoods in Erzincan Central feature wide, grid-planned avenues with strict 4-to-5 story building height caps, spacious public parks, and walkable bicycle lanes. Residents benefit from fresh organic local food markets, comprehensive regional healthcare access at Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University Training and Research Hospital, and immediate access to ski resorts, thermal springs, and mountain rivers just 15 minutes from the city center.

History & cultural identity

Erzincan, strategically positioned in a fertile high-altitude plain along the Upper Euphrates (Fırat) River valley in Eastern Anatolia, holds an ancient civilizational legacy spanning millennia. Known anciently as Aziris and later Eriza under the Urartian Empire in the 9th century BC, the region served as a vital imperial bastion along the northern Trade Routes connecting Transcaucasia to Anatolia. The historic Altıntepe Fortress, perched on a natural volcanic hill near the city center, stands as one of the world's finest preserved Urartian royal administrative centers, complete with a temple-palace, audience hall, and subterranean tombs. Over centuries, Erzincan flourished under Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Mengujekid rule—serving as the capital of the Principality of Mengujekids in the 12th century, during which Islamic architecture and scholarship reached peak prominence. Rebuilding resiliently following the catastrophic 1939 and 1992 earthquakes, modern Erzincan stands as a prime model of low-density, earthquake-engineered grid urbanism, renowned for organic agriculture, eco-tourism, extreme sports, and copper metallurgy.