PodcastEastern Turkey caves get lift to 'Heaven,' viewing dock for 'Hell'
A recent project by Turkey's Industry and Technology Ministry erected a lift to get visitors to the bottom of the "Heaven Cave," a top attraction in the eastern province of Mersin. While the deputy mayor said they expected this to increase visitors by ten fold, a local architects' representative slammed the project for ruining the local geological structure.
Duvar English
Top natural attractions in the eastern province of Mersin, the Heaven and Hell Caves, triggering public outcry about the man-made structures obstructing the natural beauty of the area.
The concave named Heaven is 70 meters deep with the Mother Mary Church at the bottom, which is accessible through some 452 steps.
A recent project by the Industry and Technology Ministry also built a lift to get to and from the bottom of Heaven.
Meanwhile, 128-meters-deep Hell wasn't suitable for construction as the walls are concave, so a viewing dock was built for visitors to observe the cave.
Deputy mayor of the Silifke district Sadık Altunok said that they hoped the most recent additions would bump the number of the site's annual visitors from around 80,000 to one million.
Meanwhile, the general secretary Turkey's Architects Chamber's Mersin office said that the cost of the lift was "way higher than reasonable" and the structure itself were detrimental to the local geological structure.
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