Kizkalesi and the Corycian Caves

A Medieval Castle On An Island Two Hundred Metres Offshore With A Second On The Mainland, And Two Enormous Collapsed Sinkholes Inland Known As Heaven And Hell · Erdemli, Mersin

Two hundred metres off a beach on the Mersin coast stands a castle on its own small island, walls rising straight out of the water, and you reach it by pedalo, by boat or by swimming, which is exactly as good as it sounds. A second castle faces it on the shore and the two were once linked by a causeway. The name means Maiden's Castle and comes with the usual story about a king, a daughter and a prophecy involving a snake. Three kilometres inland are the Corycian caves: two vast collapsed sinkholes called Heaven and Hell, the first with four hundred and fifty-two steps down to a Byzantine chapel built at the bottom and a cave mouth beyond it that the ancients thought led somewhere worse, the second a sheer shaft nobody descends. The coast around is a domestic holiday strip and is the better for being one, with prices and an atmosphere that the big international resorts on this coast lost long ago.

Kizkalesi Mahallesi, Erdemli, Mersin, Erdemli, Mersin, Turkiye

The beach and the shore castle are open; the island castle is reached by pedalo, boat or a swim and has no gate. Cennet and Cehennem keep daytime hours with a site charge and the steps down into Cennet are the whole visit. The resort season runs roughly May to October and a large share of the town closes in winter.

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