Cave of Chal is located in the village of Chal and extends within a mountain, in the town of Duzkoy, Trabzon state, overlooking the Black Sea north Turkey. It is considered one of the most beautiful tourist places in Turkey and the second longest cave in the world. In 2013, the Cave of Trabzon started to host visitors from inside and outside Turkey, as visitors are allowed to wander within the first 1 km from the cave.Since then it annually attracts about 25 thousand tourists.
The Turkish "Chal" has by its stunning beauty, thanks to its natural paintings, waterfalls and ponds.
According to experts, the cave was formed by cracks in the limestone rocks, within eight million years, and it took its current form in two stages:
The first one is through the formation of cracks in the limestone rocks after the term of leakage and analysis of the rock masses on the surface, that also created underground water channel.
The second one is when the cave stopped growing because of water flow of due to a rise in the earth's crust , which led to a decrease in the flow.
The length of the vestibules within the cave is eight kilometers, but many of its sections have not been yet discovered.
The height of "Chal" cave is 1050 meters above sea level, and has stalactites and stalagmites that were formed over the years, as well as its stream, which penetrates it and reaches a depth of one and a half meters in some places.
It also has a natural ventilation system, as experts think that the stream water that originates from inside it contributes treating sinus infections and asthma.
The height of the stream waters is 1.5 m in rainy climates, and it falls to about 25 cm in summer.
Climbing the cave requires walking on a wooden stairway of 200 m long, with two branches. The left branch includes what looks like a chimney from which water flows down, and it can be seen after about 150 m walking distance.
As for the right branch, it has roads to walk with distance of 400 m and has a water pool in addition to a spring that adds amazing beauty, visitors can see them after 60 m walking distance.
The cave’s administrators seek to solve the problem of accommodations in the region, lengthen the walking path within the cave, and develop its lighting, in order to attract more tourists.
