Tunceli
Tunceli is a municipality (belde) in Tunceli District and capital of Tunceli Province, Turkey.
The city has a Kurdish majority. The population is predominantly Kurdish Alevi, a distinct ethno-religious community whose identity has been shaped by the region's history of autonomy and resistance to central state authority. It had a population of 35,161 in 2021.
Getting to Tunceli
The nearest airports are Elazığ (EZS IATA) to the south and Erzincan (ERC IATA) to the north, both with daily flights from Istanbul. Those are also the nearest railway stations. Elazığ has a train twice a week from Ankara, heading to Tatvan for connections to Van, Tabriz and Tehran. Erzincan has a daily train from Ankara heading for Erzurum and Kars.
- 01Tunceli bus station is central
Worth seeing
Tunceli Museum is on Ali Demir Cd next to Grand Şaroğlu Hotel, in a former barracks. It's open daily 08:00-17:00. Mosques are modern though in trad style. The main ones are Paşalar Cami, Paşa Cami, Cem Evi and Yunus Emre Merkez Cami. Munzur Valley National Park is a scenic area in the side-valley 7 km northwest of town.
Things to do
Atatürk Stadyumu is the main sports venue, 2 km south of town centre along D885. Beaches are the last thing you'd expect here, but there are sandy beaches on Pülümür River, on D885 8 km east of town.
Where to eat
A cluster of small eating places in town centre are open daily 07:00-21:00.
Getting around Tunceli the local way
- Get inShorter is the old road from Elazığ, 77 km via the Pertek ferry crossing of Keban barrage lake.
From Wikivoyage: Tunceli, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-01.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.