Cennet and Cehennem 3.36

Cennet and Cehennem are the names of two large sinkholes in the Taurus Mountains, in Mersin Province, Turkey. The sinkholes are among the tourist attractions of the province.GeographyCennet and Cehennem are situated next to each other. Cennet is situated at and Cehennem is at. Both of them are in the rural area of the Silifke district which in turn is a part of Mersin Province. They are accessible by a long all season open road from the main highway (D 400). The highway distances are to Silifke and to Mersin. They are close to the coastal town of Narlıkuyu.CennetThe opening of Cennet is 250 x 110 m2 and its average dept is. It is possible to reach the bottom of Cennet by a primitive staircase composed of 300 steps. At the bottom toward the south, there is a smaller and 150 step deeper cave. In this cave are the ruins of a monastery built in the 5th century by a certain Paulus and dedicated to Virgin Mary. In this monastery one can hear the sound of a small underground stream which flows from the monastery to the gulf of Narlıkuyu.CehennemCehennem is a deeper sinkhole with a depth of. But its top opening is smaller with dimensions 70 x 50 m2 ( 210 x 150 ft2 ). As the upper edge of the opening is concave there is no access to the bottom of Cehennem.MythologyIn mythology, Zeus kept Typhon temporarily in Cehennem before imprisoning him under Mount Etna.(see Corycian Cave)