The Heaven and Hell Sinkholes

Two great holes in the limestone sit a few hundred metres apart in the hills above Narlikuyu, formed where cave roofs collapsed. The larger, called Heaven, is a long chasm you can walk into down roughly four hundred and fifty steps cut into the wall, past fig trees, to a small Byzantine chapel built at the mouth of the cave that carries on underground. Water runs somewhere below and the air turns cold and loud as you approach it. The second, called Hell, is a sheer-sided shaft that cannot be entered at all and is looked at from a platform on the rim. A third, smaller cave nearby is known for its still, humid air.

The landscape

• The stair into Heaven - about 450 steps down the chasm wall.
• The chapel - a small Byzantine church at the cave mouth.
• The cave entrance - cold air and the sound of water underground.
• The shaft called Hell - a vertical drop viewed from the rim.

When to go

Spring and autumn are best; the climb back up in July heat is punishing and the site has little shade. Mornings are quieter than afternoons, when coach groups arrive from the coastal resorts. The steps stay damp and slick for a day or two after rain. Allow more time than the distance suggests, mostly for the return.

What to expect

Those steps are the whole difficulty: the descent is easy, the climb out is not, and there is no other way back. Handrails are patchy and the stone is polished smooth in places. The chapel itself is small and plain. Signage is thin, and the stretch between ticket booth and souvenir stalls feels neglected.

Nearby

Narlikuyu's Roman mosaic, the sea castle at Kizkalesi and the Silifke coast.