Prestory: I was checking Iphone maps All the time while writing this text and right now I’m disappointed, I saw that there really is a mark of this cave on Google maps on Android😕😭, and I’m sad cause I already hoped that I’ve got a chance to be first who’ll show this place to the big world but unfortunately 😢
Anyway I won’t kill my emotional inspired story and I’ll leave original😅
Here we are:
I present to you the most secret hidden, corner that you really won't find anywhere on the map, can you imagine? When I realized this, I was immediately fascinated by the fact that for the first time on this platform I would be able to be at least the first official guide to the unknown, unexplored, so-called lost world, and it really is, and not only lost, but also a deeply underground world😃
In fact, I myself never knew that in my long-familiar mountains, unknown places for me were hidden. But one of our acquaintances really opened America to us, and led us to this place. It's interesting how somewhere far away in some lost village long forgotten in a valley between the mountains, high in the mountains, three amazing historical and at the same time natural monuments of our multifaceted Turkey are hidden and quietly exist at the same time.
As I have also researched, this location is located approximately 12 kilometers from the center of Kemer. It all started when we parked near an unrealistically powerful and wide tree, and it turned out that there was a whole gang of such trees here and they are the great-grandfathers of legends. Very very very old and very big trees, the last time I saw such trees was when we were still traveling to Crimea when I was still a child and Crimea was Ukraine.
Back then, such big trees were called “Mammoth Trees” and I really liked climbing them. And now I’m very lazy and don’t climb anywhere🤣 As we later saw on the sign near another giant. Those trees have some kind of their own Turkish name, maybe because we are in Turkey? Haha. GEDELMA ÇINARI TABİAT ANITI means - Natural Monument of the Gedelma Tree, and the tree species itself is called Platanus orientalis - Eastern Plane Tree.
Can you imagine it — it’s a full 2000 years old! Humans can’t even come close to reaching such veterans, leather ones might barely make it to a hundred 😆, but these wooden ones are ruling. It’s interesting that the leaves of this tree seem to be quite familiar and in Ukraine I also seem to have seen trees with such prickly thorns, but in my life I have never heard such a name. In any case, having gone further around the corner on the road and having come across a path leading into the bushes, I immediately climbed up to investigate what was hidden there, but this does not mean that I am not afraid of snakes, it just looked like a wall of ruins and as logically planned - these were the ruins of that very secret castle.
Although by the way, there are mentions of it on the map. But no one will ever so easily reach the cherry on the cake that is located in this very area near the castle. So, get acquainted: Gedelme Kalesi is a proper name and it has no translation. The castle must have been quite wide, because its walls are spread over such a large plot of land, and the atmosphere here is such that you can play hide-and-seek, play Among Us, and do a quest, and if you come in the evening, you can organize a live horror movie.😆
We probably went around more than 4 zones in which there are remnants, ruins of the walls of this strategically important object of the past. The walls are built from such large and sturdy cobblestones, by the local name “çıplak taş” literally naked stone, that is, from unprocessed stones connected using a binding material. The method, common in defensive architecture, demonstrates a strong structure focused on defensive functionality and environmental protection capabilities.
Despite the passage of time, its outer walls and some of its bastions still stand, deserving tribute. Having delved a little more into information I still researched that the name Gedelme still has a certain meaning that is more similar to Turkish traditions, because here everything has its own meaning, and often quite mundane to everyday things for us, such names as Rain or Fire are used absolutely calmly. So the name of the castle comes from the Greek term "Kadrema" which means a place where grain is stored and dried.
To be honest, I expected some more worthy name for a historical castle in my understanding, but based on the fact that our hero dates back to the times of the Byzantine Empire somewhere around the 9th century
we don't understand, probably in those days they had their own concept of greatness and value. And so we come to our main gem, of course the ruins of our fortress are no less important, but I am so eager to discover something that no one else can find. Although there is some information about it on the Internet, it is strange that there is really no mention of it on the map.
who would notice these little door and even more, who will believe that there’s deeply deep hollow behind?
So if you walk 50m around the castle grounds, you come to a place where there are private gardens, also a small, unhewn, tranquil cafe with souvenirs, selling tea, etc. And you don't suspect anything until they lead you by the hand right to the beginning of the steps. And that's where the magic begins.
A truly majestic natural monument is the mysterious and enchanting Gidelme mağarası cave, the length of which is 74 meters in total. And so, among the donkeys, village life, camping and gardens, a hole in the ground has stuck out. By the way, the locals also very interestingly call it Peynir Deliği, which means a hole in cheese.🤣
Although I would say that it is like a hole leading to the core of the Earth, or in general, the road to hell. But the Turks have always been great jokers. It took my breath away from the first steps as I started to descend into the cave.
Such long and mysterious hanging branches make it seem enchanted. There are very long stairs going deep into it and. It is actually very interesting to go down there with a feeling of something spooky. The atmosphere there is a bit mystical, everything around is slippery, wet and dripping. There were such things hanging on the ceiling that look like winter relationships and it would definitely not be fun if one fell on someone's head.
And And going further and further down and down we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, a warm, promising orange light.
And what struck me the most was a huge tall multi-level figure that was releasing strange elongated things made of some material, and by the way, it reminded me of the pool edges in Pamukkale which I visited before and wrote a post about it here. The sight, and what lies within this cave, make it an undeniably unique creation of nature — inconceivable to the simple human mind.
There are all sorts of different rock formations such as stalactites, stalagmites and columns that cover the entire surface around, hanging from the ceiling, creating various other-galactic figures and sculptures, statues, some similar to clay. And some reminded me of melted candle wax.
To put it in the words I researched, this is such a serious natural process that lasts for millions of years, when water seeps through limestone, dissolving particles and slowly redepositing layers of minerals, which over time turn into these impressive structures. The bottom of the cave is covered with fragments of rocks and elements of erosion that contribute to the formation of the overall geological system.
The local authorities have rightly declared this place a protected natural monument and it is protected by law. The guys did a great job of lighting all the stalactites. This bright yellow color really reflects the power of the place, but my friend pointed out that their safety measures are hanging by a thread, because if one wire gets damaged and by the way, we noticed that some of them were already wrapped with electrical tape - then, since everything around is damp and covered in water drops, and the viewing bridge itsel, which is also framed with lighting wires, is made of iron, it wouldn’t be much fun for the tourists. By the way, it was generally quite unreliable. When there were a lot of people standing on it, it was somehow staggerevering suspiciously.
The hanging plants from the house looked so special, it was really so magical looking. These are my favorite photos.
