Kanlıdivane

The centre of Kanlıdivane is a collapsed cave - a sinkhole roughly ninety by seventy metres and sixty deep, with sheer walls, and the ancient town of Kanytelis was built around its rim. Four Byzantine churches stand close to the edge, along with a Hellenistic tower, houses, cisterns and, cut into the chasm walls themselves, relief figures of a family in Roman dress and a soldier, reached by a rough path down. The Turkish name means bloody place of judgment, from a tradition that the condemned were thrown into the pit to be eaten by wild animals - a story with no supporting evidence but a firm grip locally. Around the site, spread over the scrubby plateau, are the necropolis areas with temple-tombs and sarcophagi standing among the rocks and thyme. It is barely visited, unfenced in most places, and the drop into the sinkhole is unprotected, which requires actual care rather than the usual caution.

What to look for

• The sinkhole - the vast collapsed cave at the town's centre.
• The rim churches - four Byzantine basilicas near the edge.
• The wall reliefs - carved figures on the chasm face.
• The tomb fields - temple-tombs across the plateau.

When to go

April to June and September to November, in the morning. There is no shade on the plateau and the coast here is severe in summer.

Before you go

The sinkhole edge is unfenced with a sixty-metre drop, and the path down is rough - this is a genuine hazard, not a formality. No facilities. Ruins are unconsolidated and the ground is uneven.

Nearby

Kızkalesi is twenty minutes away on the coast; Uzuncaburç is up in the mountains behind Silifke.

Key facts