Touring an old, healing cave in Turkey's Bursa

BURSA - Anadolu Agency

The 730-meter-long and 93-meter-high Oylat Cave is believed to serve as a remedy to health problems such as asthma and bronchitis. AA photo

A cave in the northwestern province of Bursa’s İnegöl district draws interest from local and foreign tourists who want to enjoy its alleged health benefits as well as to see natural beauty. The 730-meter-long and 93-meter-high Oylat Cave is believed to serve as a remedy to health problems such as asthma and bronchitis. The 3 million-year-old cave takes almost 90 minutes to visit.
 
The cave is famous for its colorful stalactites and stalagmites. The cave’s length is only 650 meters. A lot of bats have their home in the cave. Taking photos is forbidden in order not to scare the bats. The cave is located 17 kilometers away from İnegöl, where the Oylat Canyon ends. It can be reached through the İnegöl-Ankara highway. The cave, which is formed by two floors connected to each other, has a meandering profile. It has narrow galleries between the entrance and a big room. This part is between two to five meters wide and the roof height is approximately 15 meters. Stalactite pools occupy a big place here. Also, gravel yards can be seen on this floor.

The second floor of the cave is between 25-55 meter wide and its height is between 3-15 meters. This floor has many huge blocks and stalactites as well as gravel, sand and clay layers.

The Oylat Cave has different meteorological features in every part of it. As well as bats, the cave is also home to a rich natural ecosystem including butterflies, worms and guanobites.

Temperature changes

The wind is perceivable in the cave’s narrow galleries and gateways that connect rooms and floors to each other.

According to measurements, the temperature in front of the cave is 29 degrees centigrade, humidity is 47 degrees. In the entrance of the cave, air temperature falls to 19 degrees, humidity becomes 55 degrees; and in the narrow gallery, temperature is 17 degrees and humidity is 78 degrees. The temperature falls to 14 in the rooms inside and humidity increases to 90 degrees. Equipped visitors can visit the cave accompanied by guides.

The cave’s guide, Gökhan Yaşar said that the cave was discovered in 2004 and opened to tourism in 2006. He pointed out that the cave, which has many geographical shapes, drew great interest from local and foreign tourists. “The cave has been open to tourism for seven years,” said Yaşar, “It is a natural formation and dates back to 3 million years ago. It is comprised of stalactites, rain water, snow water and minerals like lime, sulphur and iron filings. Tourists come to the cave throughout the year. Between June and October, foreign tourists mostly come to the cave. They are generally from the countries like Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.”

Yaşar said that the air in the cave was believed to heal health problems because it produced pure oxygen and had humidity levels between 45-90 centigrade degrees. He also noted that a visitor could visit the whole cave in almost 90 minutes.