Turkey
Cennet & Cehennem
Twin sinkholes side by side: one a lush fern-filled paradise, the other a bottomless abyss.
Two holes in the earth, side by side, and utterly different. One is carpeted in ferns and bird calls, a stone staircase spiralling down to a Byzantine chapel hidden at the bottom. The other drops straight into darkness — too sheer to enter, too deep to see the floor. Cennet and Cehennem in Turkey's eastern Mediterranean are named Heaven and Hell, and standing at the edge, it is easy to see why.
Cennet (Heaven) sinkhole is approximately 100 metres wide and 70 metres deep, its floor filled with sub-tropical vegetation and reached via a carved stone staircase. At the bottom, a 5th-century Byzantine chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary stands among the ferns. Cehennem (Hell) sinkhole, just metres away, is 50 metres wide and 128 metres deep — sheer-walled and inaccessible, its floor invisible in permanent shadow. The sinkholes sit near Silifke in Mersin province, and the surrounding karst landscape holds dozens of partially documented cave systems. The site has been sacred since antiquity; ancient Greeks identified the cave at the base of Cennet as an entrance to the underworld.
Solo
The descent into Cennet feels like entering a lost world — the air cools, the light changes, and the chapel at the bottom sits in complete silence. A place best absorbed alone.
Couple
The contrast between the two sinkholes creates a natural narrative — descend into paradise together, then stand at the edge of the abyss. It stays with you.
Family
Children old enough for the staircase descent will remember the chapel at the bottom of Cennet for years. The 'Heaven and Hell' framing makes the visit instantly graspable.
- Cennet (Heaven) sinkhole is 100 metres wide and 70 metres deep, filled with sub-tropical vegetation and reached via a stone staircase.
- Cehennem (Hell) sinkhole is 50 metres wide and 128 metres deep — too sheer to descend, the bottom invisible in darkness.
- A 5th-century Byzantine chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary stands at the floor of the Cennet sinkhole.
- The nearest town is Silifke, 10km away — the surrounding area holds dozens of undocumented cave systems.
Silifke's tantuni — stir-fried beef strips wrapped in lavash with onion and parsley, fast and fiery.
Mersin's cezerye — a carrot-and-pistachio confection, chewy and sweet, sold in decorative boxes.
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