At 25 kilometres from the centre of Antalya and not far from the Turkish resort of Kemer is the Olympos-Bedagları National Park. Its long and narrow plain stretches from Cape Reis to Cape Akyar. In the east of the park, the mountains descend sharply to the sea and are rocky cliffs. It is in this park is located the famous Beldibi Cave, 16 kilometres from Kemer. It beckons tourists with its rock paintings and a beautiful waterfall.
Not far from it, right in the rocky mountains, is the source of a small river Beldibi, which gave its name to the nearby village. The length of the river is only four kilometres. The small urban-type village of Beldibi stretches in a narrow strip for a distance of six kilometres. It is essentially a long street of hotels, shopping pavilions, bars and small restaurants. The indigenous population of the village is small. Beldibi is famous for its citrus gardens, picnic grounds, tourist facilities with walking paths and clean pebble beaches.
A visit to the Beldibi Cave arouses genuine interest among holidaymakers in the nearby towns. Beldibi Cave is of genuine interest to tourists holidaying in nearby towns. The cave is located at the foot of the sandstone mountains, which extend into the sea and consists of two parts. It is a real historical value and, according to historians, was used as far back as the Paleolithic period. It is true that the most beautiful places in the cave are attributed to the Mesolithic period. This historical artefact was first discovered in 1956 by E. Bostanji, but excavations began only three years later.
There are six cultural layers in the cave: Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, transitional from Mesolithic to Neolithic, the 4th, 5th and 6th layers belong to the Paleolithic era. On the walls there are schematic drawings of a man, a shaman, mountain goats and deer, hunting scenes, figures representing the mother goddess, divided into four sections with dots. The pictures were made with colours made of manganese oxide and natural iron. Fragments of plates and jars, small tools carved from stone and bone. Most of these archaeological finds are preserved in museums in Antalya.
The cave is twenty-five metres above sea level and has a vaulted shape. This place, located among coniferous forests, was used by primitive Paleolithic and Neolithic hunters used it as a shelter or dwelling. There are signs on the walls of the cave with directions to the waterfall. To to reach it, you'll even have to swim across a shallow but quite wide mountain river. The waterfall will thank you with its beauty for the obstacles you had to overcome to get to it.
Among the natural sights near the cave there is the Gainuk Canyon, from the historical - the ruins of the ancient settlement of Fazelis, surrounded by picturesque pine forests, which, even on the hottest and most cloudless days give people a cool and welcome breeze.
