Guide
İnaltı cave is in the village of the same name, forty kilometres from Ayancık in Sinop province, at 1,070 metres above sea level. You can drive to within fifty metres of it and climb the rest on steps; there is a broad terrace at the mouth, a marked route through the interior, and a tea garden outside. The cave is 658 metres long in total. The MTA surveyed it in 1996, and 300 metres have been lit and opened to visitors; of the remaining 358 metres, only about 125 were judged suitable for opening.
The cave runs east to west in an S curve. The entrance chamber is 125 metres long, up to fifteen metres high and ten to twelve metres wide, and this is the widest and driest part of the system. As the passage narrows, the formations begin: stalactites, stalagmites, columns, flowstone on floors and walls, and rimstone pools. It developed horizontally within the İnaltı formation, which forms the karst base level above a Dogger-age granite basement. Lower down, near the floor and just above the water level, cauliflower and popcorn formations appear in places. The limestone of this region is what makes the caves and sinkholes here possible. You will need your own vehicle.
- Designated
- 3.08.2020
Entry fee
- Black Sea group 2 · category 1 · Per person
- 65 ₺
