Alıcın Kültürel Jeositi

About Alıcın Kültürel Jeositi

Alıcın Kültürel Jeositi (Alıcın cultural geosite) is a group of rock-cut caves on the Ali Cin stream in Kızılcahamam, at the outlet of the Çamlıdere Dam. According to the Kızılcahamam municipality, the caves are carved about 70 metres above the ground into a very steep slope of a deep valley, some 140 metres deep, on the descent of the old market road of Kalemler Mahallesi, beside the E-89 motorway. Local tradition says the caves were made by Cin Ali, a figure remembered as a bandit who is thought to have lived in the second half of the 19th century. The municipality considers it more likely that they were a Roman-period structure built for security. The best-known part is a structure called the monastery, formed by closing off the front of a hollow in the conglomerate rock about 15 metres above the ground. Because from a distance it resembles the Sumela Monastery in Trabzon, it is nicknamed Mini Sümela, although no religious or social traces have been found inside. Practical notes: the municipality says the castle-like rock and its surroundings can only be climbed by professional mountaineers today, and describes the landscape as well worth seeing. On the valley floor is the Soğulcuönü fountain, and the area can be used for camping and picnics.