It is a natural cave in the Silifke district of Mersin province in Turkey. The cave is commonly called Cennet-Cehennem and is particularly known as a tourist attraction.
Cennet-Cehennem Cave was opened to tourism in 1988. The cave is named Paradise and Hell because of the different atmospheres of the two separate sections within it. The Heaven part of the cave consists of a wide and bright section, while the Hell part consists of a narrower and darker passage.
The natural formations inside the cave are quite impressive. Stalactites and stalagmites are common limestone formations that can be seen inside the cave. The underground rivers in the cave have formed underground lakes and the cave has a fascinating atmosphere.
Tours organised inside the cave offer visitors the opportunity to explore these natural beauties. The lighting on the cave walls and the walking paths allow visitors to visit the cave safely. The cave is also interesting for adventure sports enthusiasts.
Cennet-Cehennem Cave is one of Turkey’s major tourist attractions and attracts visitors with its natural beauty. Those who want to visit the cave can reach Silifke district and visit the cave through local tourism operators.
Heaven Cave
Cennet sinkhole is a large sinkhole formed as a result of the collapse of the ceiling due to chemical erosion caused by an underground stream. The diameters of the elliptical mouth are 250 and 110 metres and the depth is 70 metres. There is a cave entrance about 200 m. long and 135 m. deep at its deepest point and a small church at the mouth of this cave.
The 4-line inscription on the entrance door of the church says that this church was built in the V. century by a pious person named Paulus in dedication to the Virgin Mary. A stone staircase with 452 steps, each of which is quite wide, leads down into the cave of paradise. The church is reached at the 300th step. At the end of the cave after the church, the sound of a mythological underground stream is heard.
It is a depression sinkhole and was formed as a result of karstic processes within the shallow marine limestone layers formed during the Miocene period. The northern slope of the sinkhole is quite steep. The sinkhole was formed by the collapse of the ceiling of a gallery in a closed karst cave system. This system, which can also be called an underground stream, continues its activity today and passes under the floor surface of the Cehennem pit formed on the way of the stream. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea in the form of karstic springs from the depths of Narlıkuyu land.
There is a Temple of Zeus dating from the Hellenistic period near the end of the stairway descending to the base of the Obruk. The temple was converted into a church during the Christian period. The wall of the southern part of the temple does not exist.
It is believed that the stairway also dates from this period. You can easily descend to the bottom of the sinkhole. At the contact point of this surface with the ground, the sounds of the underground stream can be easily heard. There is a lift going up just before the bottom.
Hell Cave
With a depth of approximately 110 m, the hell pit was formed as a result of the erosion and collapse of the ceiling of an underground cave system opened by a karstic underground stream that led to the formation of the Cennet Obruk. The mouth circle diameters of Cehennem pit are 50 m and 75 m, and its depth is 110 metres. Since its sides are concave, it cannot be descended into. A subterranean stream flows through the base of the pit, which leads under the Cennet Pit to the west.
It is not possible to descend to the bottom of the Hell sinkhole because its edges are concave and narrower and steeper than the Heaven sinkhole, it can be climbed up and down with a special mountaineer rope or hard ladder. In 2021, a glass observation terrace was built for better observation of the Hell sinkhole.
According to Greek mythology, after Zeus defeated the flaming, hundred-headed dragon Typhon in a fight here, he imprisoned him in the pit of Hell for a while before locking him under the Etna Volcano forever.
