Caves of İçel

Yalan Dünya Cave

Location: İçel

The cave is located on the Yalandünya Hill locality, 1 km northwest of Sele Quarter which is at 13 km away from the Gülnar road separation on the Anamur - Silifke road.

Properties: The cave is partially horizontal and partially vertical. There are beautiful stalactites, stalagmites and pillars inside the cave. Cave pearls with large amounts could be observed. Scattered ceramic pieces are found inside the great saloon.

There are two entrance locations to the cave which is developed inside the karstic limestone. The distance between the entrance points are approximately 100 meters. One of the entrance is an opening that looks like a window of 8 x 6 m. size on a cover shaped like a dome and the descend into the cave could be managed by special ladders which are 17 meters long.

The descend is directly on an ebuly with approximate thickness of 30 meters. The slope of the ebuly is nearly 40 degrees. The great saloon here is 92 meters long ve67 meters wide. After ascending 10 meters, you enter into a small saloon. From this saloon, it is possible to reach to the bottom of a shaft with 30 meters depth.

Cennet Pit Cave

Location: İçel

The cave is at 63 km. southwest of İçel and 22 km. away from Silifke. Reaching to the Narlıkuyu bay is possible by the asphalt road of 1800 meters on İçel - Silifke coastal road.

Properties: The Cennet Pit Cave is formed as a result of various geological movements and by the corrosion of underground waters and is one of the most interesting and attractive natural formation of İçel.

The cave has formed by the collusion of the ceiling because of the erosion of an underground creek inside the Miocene period limestone layers. The cave has approximately 275x125 m. diameter and the deepest point is 135 meters from the edge. The Cennet Pit cave descends as an inclined shaft to the direction of south and obtains the shape of a cave at the end. The temporary lake is dry in summer but the lake appears at the period when the underground water level is high.

Cennet and Cehennem Pits are two shafts formed by the collusion of the upper level of a same underground system. Descend down the pit is possible via a stair track from Roman period. There are ruins of a Byzantium church at the west edge.

Cehennem Pit Cave

Location: İçel

The cave is at 63 km. southwest of İçel ve22 km. away from Silifke. The cave is located at 75 meters east of Cennet Pit.

Properties: The cave has formed by the collusion of the ceiling because of the erosion of an underground creek inside the Miocene period limestone layers. The cave is elliptical with the dimensions of 50x75 meters. It is steeper and more narrow when compared with the Cennet Pit. The debris massed at the floor of the pit caused by the collapsed ceiling descends towards west to east with an approximate slope of 30 degrees.

Cennet and Cehennem Pits are two shafts formed by the collusion of the upper level of a same underground system.

Narlıkuyu Cave

Location: İçel
Reaching to the Narlıkuyu Cave is possible by the asphalt road branching from İçel - Silifke road inside Narlıkuyu village.

Properties: The cave has developed inside the Miocene limestone. The cave is located at 300 meters west of Cennet cave and the entrance is 160 meters higher than sea level. After a narrow entrance followed by steep parts about 20 meters, the cave expands in the direction of east - west as wide saloons. There are numerous stalactite and stalagmites and pillars inside these saloons.

There is a car park and guard cabins outside the cave. The cave receives visitors since 1987.