Fodor's Expert Review Heaven and Hell
An intriguing attraction that has been drawing visitors since before Roman times, these two natural sinkholes were created by an ancient subsidence. The first, located just beyond a small café and ticket booth, is the one referred to as Heaven (Cennet). A five-minute walk takes you down to the peaceful valley floor and the well-preserved 5th-century AD Byzantine Church of the Virgin Mary. The path then descends into a huge, aircraft-hangar-like natural cavern, which might have been the site of a spring known among the ancients as the fountain of knowledge.
Back up the stairs a short walk leads to the Hell (Cehennem) sinkhole, which is narrower, with walls too steep to enter, and deep enough for little sunlight to reach the bottom. A dark and gloomy place, pagan, Christian, and Muslim sources all identify it as an entrance to hell. The road continues to a third cavern, the Cave of Wishes (Dilek Mağarası), also known as Asthma Cave (Astım Mağarası) for the purported respiratory... READ MORE
An intriguing attraction that has been drawing visitors since before Roman times, these two natural sinkholes were created by an ancient subsidence. The first, located just beyond a small café and ticket booth, is the one referred to as Heaven (Cennet). A five-minute walk takes you down to the peaceful valley floor and the well-preserved 5th-century AD Byzantine Church of the Virgin Mary. The path then descends into a huge, aircraft-hangar-like natural cavern, which might have been the site of a spring known among the ancients as the fountain of knowledge.
Back up the stairs a short walk leads to the Hell (Cehennem) sinkhole, which is narrower, with walls too steep to enter, and deep enough for little sunlight to reach the bottom. A dark and gloomy place, pagan, Christian, and Muslim sources all identify it as an entrance to hell. The road continues to a third cavern, the Cave of Wishes (Dilek Mağarası), also known as Asthma Cave (Astım Mağarası) for the purported respiratory benefits of its humid air. Romans picked crocuses here, and even today you may be met by villagers selling bunches of the little flowers.
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