Ballıca Cave ( tr, Ballıca Mağarası) is a small cave situated at southeast of Pazar,

Tokat Province Tokat Province ( tr, ) is a province in northern Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Amasya to the northwest, Yozgat to the southwest, Sivas to the southeast, and Ordu to the northeast. Its capital is Tokat, which lies inland of the middle Black ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. The cave is southeast of the village Ballıca. Ballıca Cave is a

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

cave. Its overall length is . The upper sections are composed of Permian–Triassic

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

and

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

. There are two layers above the entrance and five layers below, making a total of seven layers. Five layers were formed over three periods. One section stretches northeast and southwest, consisting of two layers. The second section, containing layers #3 and 34 were formed during the Second Evolutionary Period, and the 5th layer was formed in the 20th century. The gallery, which leads to some open space with a

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from ...

, is the first section in the northeast-southwest direction. It consists of the Stalactite and Stalagmite Hall on the first level, and the

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

Hall and the

Bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

Hall on the second level. The Magnificent Gallery on the third floor is formed by the three adjoining halls: the

Mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

, Column, and the New Hall. Dwarf bat colonies live in different parts of the cave, and can be heard and smelled, but not often seen. The many colours in the cave are astonishing, and the filtered air is rich in

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as ...

. About from the entrance, there is a wide saloon. The New Hall contains the remains (plastered walls, plastered material depot etc.) of use at sometime in history. There are numerous stalactites,

stalagmites A stalagmite (, ; from the Greek , from , "dropping, trickling") is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically co ...

pillars A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

and water ponds inside the saloon.

References

Gallery

File:Ballıca Cave 1929.jpg, Ballıca Cave Image File:Ballıca Cave 1933.jpg, Ballıca Cave Image File:Ballıca Cave 1947.jpg, Ballıca Cave Image File:Ballıca Cave 1958.jpg, Ballıca Cave Image File:Ballıca Cave 1998.jpg, Ballıca Cave Image File:Ballıca Cave 2002.jpg, Ballıca Cave Image File:Ballıca Cave 2012.jpg, Ballıca Cave Image

External links

Ballıca CaveDescription in UNESCO page of Tentative heritage sites
Show caves in Turkey Landforms of Tokat Province Tourist attractions in Tokat Province World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey {{Tokat-geo-stub