A European Informational Website
learn more
Kahta is a large district of Adıyaman Province of Turkey. Population 68,000.
Kahta is a small town in attractive countryside at the foot of Nemrut Dağı and has a thriving business providing food, accommodation (and nowadays internet cafes) and transport (in the form of shared taxis or minibuses) to people visiting the mountain. Most businesses in the town are named after Zeus, Nimrod or other figures from mythology. The food found here includes grilled carp and trout.
Despite the extra income from tourism this is still an impoverished rural area and the winters especially are cold and hard in these mountains. People are poor, families of 10-12 children are common, schools lack books or stationery, winter school uniforms are expensive. Since the 1970s in the face of these conditions many families from Kahta have migrated to the cities of western Turkey.