Karataş Mağarası


Useful Information

Location: Yeşilkaraman, 07119 Aksu/Antalya.
D400 Highway and the D685 (Antalya-Isparta Road).
(37.1142335, 30.8010880)
Open: All year daily 8:30-18.
[2026]
Fee:  
Classification: SpeleologyKarst Cave
Light: LightElectric Light LightColoured Light
Dimension:  
Guided tours: L=400 m, D=30 min.
Photography:  
Accessibility:  
Bibliography:  
Address: Karataş Mağarası, Yeşilkaraman, 07119 Aksu/Antalya, Tel: +90-541-861-98-61
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
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History

1998 land purchased by the Karataş family.

Description

Karataş Mağarası is a rather weird show cave, actually it is a campground and a restaurant, the show cave is just an additional feature. It has some age and the development is a little rickety, with iron plates simply lying on the floor. What’s more, the previous owner seems to have let the cave fall into disrepair. The current owner is doing his best to restore it. The following legend seems to be more of a fantasy story than a real legend. This is supported by the fact that all the cave’s points of interest are mentioned. It is said to be set around 1400.

In the first hall, there is a shaft in the ceiling leading to the surface, known as the ‘Devil’s Hole’. According to legend, demons gather beneath this hole every night. On some nights, they even hold parties and weddings here. However, you can drive them away by saying ‘Besmele’. This is short for ‘Bismillahirrahmanirrahim’, which means ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful’. Elif, a Yörük (nomad) girl, and Kerim, a young man from the village, fell in love. At that time, nomads were not allowed to marry a member of the Asi family. When their families found out about their love, they pursued the couple with the intention of killing them. With the word ‘Besmele’ on their lips, they fled into the cave, hoping that their pursuers would be afraid of the demons. They hid by the well on the shore of the lake. They treated their wounds with the healing mud from the cave. They hid here for a very long time, subsisting solely on the water from the Well of Love. But with no distinction between day and night, they had no idea how much time had passed. Eventually, Elif left the cave to visit her mother, but the nomads had moved on. When she returned to the cave, she wept bitterly. Meanwhile, however, Kerim’s mother had taken pity on the two of them and threw bread into Bekir’s cistern, a second shaft leading to the surface. The lovers prayed at the Lake of Peace that the families might be reconciled and that peace might be as vast as the lake itself.

Not really a happy end. There is another legend with a Christian background.

Saint Paul, who set out in 46 AD to spread Christianity, walked from Aspendos along the Aksu River to the Karataş Cave. He held secret masses with the local people in a hall about 100 meters inside the cave and explained his faith. This is why the cave was called St. Paul's Cave by the locals.