It is a large pit formed as a result of the collapse of the ceiling by chemical erosion caused by an underground stream. The diameter of the elliptical mouth part is 250 m. and 110 m. It is 70 meters deep. 200 m. at the south end of the collapsed floor. long and its deepest point is 135 m. There is a large cave entrance and a small church at the mouth of this cave.

In the 4-line inscription on the entrance door of the church, it is written that this church was built in the 5th century by a religious person named Paulus, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. A stone staircase with 452 steps, each of which is quite wide, descends into the heavenly depression. The church is reached on the 300th step. At the end of the cave after the church, the sound of a mythological underground stream is heard. There are two important karst pits near the town of Narlıkuyu on the Mersin-Silifke road in the Mediterranean Region. These collapsed structures, called the Obruk, developed within the plateau consisting of limestone. The pits of heaven and hell are deep pits with sharp corners. These two large pits correspond to two chimneys formed by the precipitation of the upper part of the underground cave system. Towards the bottom sections of the pothole, large blocks and masses that fell from above during the collapse of the ceiling are encountered.

heaven pottery

Located approximately 200 m southwest of the hell pit, the heaven pit is approximately 135 m deep. This, too, is a depression sinkhole, formed as a result of karstic processes in shallow marine limestone layers formed during the Miocene period (So is Hell's Pitcher). The northern slope of the pothole is quite steep. The cavern was developed by the collapse of the ceiling of a gallery in a closed karst cave system. This system, which we can also call an underground stream, continues to operate today and passes under the floor surface of the Hell pit formed on the stream road. From the depths of the Narlıkuyu land, it mixes into the Mediterranean in the form of karst springs. Near the end of the stairway leading down to the bottom of the pothole, there is a Hellenistic Temple of Zeus. It is thought that the road with stairs is also from this period. You can easily go down to the bottom of the pothole. At the contact point of this surface with the ground, the sounds of the underground stream can be easily heard.

hell pothole

The hell pit, which has a depth of approximately 110 m, was formed as a result of the collapse of an underground cave system ceiling, which was again opened by a karstic underground stream that led to the formation of Cennet Pitcher. An underground stream running under the Cennet Pitcher in the west passes from the bottom of the pothole. Since the sides of the Hell pit are concave and it is narrower and steeper than the Heaven pit, it is not possible to go down to its base.