Description of the attraction
Karain Cave is one of the most interesting historical and archaeological sites and the largest natural cave in Turkey. It is located near the village of Yagja (Yenikoy district) in the Mediterranean region of the country, about 27 kilometers north-west of Antalya, on the eastern slope of the rocky Chan mountain. The cave is located at an altitude of about three hundred and seventy meters above sea level and eighty meters up the slope, where the Western Taurus zone is bordered by a plain of calcareous tuff. The height of the cave itself is one hundred and fifty meters.
In addition to its natural value, Karain is also a huge historical one. Due to its particularly favorable location and its convenience, since the Paleolithic era - twenty-five thousand years ago, it was inhabited by people who left a large number of material reminders of their stay.
The cave was first discovered in 1946. In the same year, the first scientific expedition to these underground labyrinths, headed by Ismail Kilich Kokten, descended. However, due to the crisis that erupted in the post-war years, excavations had to be suspended for an indefinite period of time. They were resumed under the leadership of Ishin Yalchinkaya only in 1985. All research work was carried out mainly in the "Karain-E" hall. Cave Carain began to be studied more thoroughly already in 1996, when the department of prehistoric times of the University of Liège (Belgium) began to supervise the excavations.
The cave was conditionally divided into seven halls, named in the form of letters of the Latin alphabet from A to G. Hall E is of the greatest interest among tourists, in which the bones of a Neanderthal man up to two hundred thousand years old were found. This room is the largest treasury of ancient monuments in the world. The cultural layer here is about eleven meters, in which tools of the Acheulean, Mousterian and Aurignacian eras, made of stone, were discovered.
The cave has only one entrance, and it leads to three large halls and a small museum of Anatolian civilizations, which contains a collection of artifacts discovered during the excavations of Karayin - stone products and bones of hunter-gatherers who lived in the cave.
It is noteworthy that it was in this cave that the remains of an ancient man were found in the territory of modern Turkey, as well as fragments of ancient weapons, arrowheads, tools and bones of prehistoric animals such as a cave bear, a wolf, a lion and a hippo. In the Mousterian layer, and in the intermediate layer between it and the Aurignacian, two teeth of an ancient man were discovered, one of which belongs to a Neanderthal man.
Judging by the inscriptions with which the walls of the cave are lavishly decorated, we can conclude that it was used in ancient times not only as a dwelling, but also as a place of worship. Perhaps there was a place of worship and sacrifice here. It is also assumed that at various times the cave served as a burial place. The inside of the cave was severely damaged and collapsed.
In the halls, illuminated with dimmed electric light, there are special observation platforms for tourists. There are many beautiful stalagmites and stalactites in the cave that have formed naturally over the millennia. The sites of the excavations have also been preserved here, so that interested tourists can look at them. The cave maintains a constant temperature of about twenty degrees, it is quite humid here.
Description added:
Abramova Natalia 2014-14-01
Everything is very cool, except that the wall inscriptions have been significantly replenished with modern scribbles and scratches! People, take care of history ……. We managed to get to the cave on city routes (almost a detective story), these are buses that you can take in the area of the bus station, routes 506
Show all text Everything is very cool, except that the wall inscriptions have been significantly replenished with modern scribbles and scratches! People, take care of history ……. We managed to get to the cave on city routes (almost a detective story), these are buses that you can take in the area of the bus station, routes 506 - to the final stop, DK38, DK38a - almost to the final stops, and then about 2 km, where local will show by hand….
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Description added:
Natalia Beletskaya 2012-18-06
We also decided to see the caves. Climbing the mountain is certainly difficult, but the ascent is almost always on the steps and there are places (stone chairs) for a break along the way.
Of course we expected to see how the 7 halls were described. But in fact, we counted only 3. Maybe those small pawns that move away from the first
Show all text We also decided to look at the caves. Climbing the mountain is certainly difficult, but the ascent is almost always on the steps and there are places (stone chairs) for a break along the way.
Of course we expected to see how the 7 halls were described. But in fact, we counted only 3. Maybe those small pawns that depart from the first are also listed as halls, we don't know. The beauty is incredible. We are delighted, especially the children. They love caves and canal crawling. We ourselves are from Arkhangelsk. We have such a place Golubino. There are also caves with staloctites. They are big, beautiful, but so dirty there! Without special clothing, you will go out covered in sand, especially if you crawl in a cave on your stomach. And here you can say clean and almost slippery. Although sometimes it drips on the head. In general, it is beautiful, but not enough! Descending is of course easier. The museum was closed. Said that uh
The entire exposition is in the Antalya Archaeological Museum. After watching, we had a bite to eat at a table near the museum. The locusts galloped across the table and bags. And butterflies were not allowed to eat constantly sitting on their hair. Then we went to Termeses. Again the rise, the mountains and the remains of the old city. But that is another story.
Travel friends! After all, as the Turks-caretakers of these sights told us: - "Very rarely Russian tourists visit these places!" But it is very easy to travel from Antalya. All according to the signs. We climbed in. And look, you won't regret it.
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