Tourism potential and recreational facilities of Elazığ

Elazığ is situated in the upper Fırat portion of Eastern Anatolia region which is the biggest geographical region of Turkey. Elazığ is on the historical and natural roads which have not lost importance from prehistoric age to our time. According to arceological researches, first agricultural civilization in this region started in the years of 6-7 thousand B.C. This researches give us important information about population, settelment and socio-economic life of the city and also we can understand that from ancient time to now this region have not lost its importance. Many tumulus in the city and documents which were collected together from this region before the construction of Keban dam and existance of historical Harput city prove the strategic importance and commercial function of this settelment. For a long time historical Harput city became the biggest and oldest settelment of this region. Today with it's natural environment and historical and cultural peculiarities Harput is one of the most important recreational place of Elazığ. In this region there is no seaside that's why river and lake banks have great importance as a recreational places. One of the most important recreational place of Elazığ is Hazar Lake. Every kind of water sports can be made in this place. Each year in the northern bank of the lake, amount of county houses have increased sharply. Also there are many camping places which are owned by public institutions in this lake. Elazığ city has many untouched recreational places such as: mountains, plains, plateous, natural and artificial lakes (Keban, Karakaya, Cip, etc.) and waiting for becoming active. Historical monuments and natural beauties in the towns wait help and support from official authorities to survive and increase their touristic values. In this study we tried to point out the tourism potential, recreational places in the towns and recreational facilities in the country side with perspective of historical development and details. Aim of this study is to increase the existent tourism potential and recreational places and to point out the new potential places.