Ballıca Cave: Tokat’s Multi-Level Show Cave

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1. What is Ballıca Cave?
2. How do you get to Ballıca Cave?
3. When is the best time to visit Ballıca Cave?
4. What is the history of Ballıca Cave?
5. What is Ballıca Cave famous for?
6. What can you do at Ballıca Cave?
7. Frequently asked questions about Ballıca Cave
8. What do the official records say about Ballıca Cave?

What is Ballıca Cave?

Ballıca Cave (Ballıca Mağarası) is a show cave in the hills near Pazar, in the west of Tokat province. The 2002 inventory calls it one of the most important tourist places in the province, and describes a cave of five levels, linked partly horizontally and partly vertically, with eight large halls, in some of which formations are still growing.

Walkways and lighting lead visitors through the halls past curtains of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, flowstone and small pools.

How do you get to Ballıca Cave?

The cave is about 6 km southeast of Pazar and 600 m from Ballıca village. Pazar lies west of Tokat city, off the road towards Turhal and Amasya. You need a car or a taxi: there is no regular public transport up to the cave. From Tokat, combine it with Sulusaray or with a drive on to Amasya.

The inventory recommends the route between Alan Yaylası, the Akdağ summit (2,000 m) and Ballıca Cave to walkers.

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When is the best time to visit Ballıca Cave?

All year. The inventory notes that an average temperature of about 18°C prevails inside in summer and winter, so the cave is a cool escape in July and a warm one in January. Bring shoes with grip; the walkways can be damp. Opening hours are set locally and change with the season, so check before you drive out.

What is the history of Ballıca Cave?

Ballıca is a natural limestone cave formed over a very long period by water dissolving the rock and redepositing calcite. Formations are still growing in some halls, which is why the inventory singles it out as a living cave rather than a dry one.

It was opened as a show cave with paths and lighting, and by 2002 the inventory already counted it among the province’s main attractions. Sources disagree on its length: the inventory gives 680 m, while other summaries give much shorter figures for the visitable section.

What is Ballıca Cave famous for?

• Onion stalactites. The inventory states that the most important feature of the cave is that it is made up of onion stalactites (soğan sarkıt), found in no other cave in Türkiye.
• Multiple levels. Five levels and eight large halls, connected horizontally and vertically.
• Dwarf bats. Colonies of dwarf bats live in different parts of the cave; you are more likely to hear and smell them than see them.
• Constant temperature. About 18°C year-round.

What can you do at Ballıca Cave?

Walk the halls. Follow the paths through the lit chambers. The formations are varied: thin straw stalactites, massive stalagmites, joined columns, draperies and rimstone pools. Do not touch them; the oils from skin stop their growth.

Look for the onion shapes. Ask staff to point out the bulb-shaped stalactites the cave is known for.

Photograph carefully. Flash flattens the formations and disturbs the bats; a steady hand and higher ISO work better.

Walk outside. The hills around Ballıca village are good for a short walk after the cave, and the trekking route towards Akdağ starts in this area.

Bring the right kit. A light jacket helps on a hot day, since the cave stays at about 18°C, and shoes with a good grip matter more than anything else on the wet paths and steps between levels.

Tokat’s other cave

The inventory also describes Kunduz Cave, within the boundaries of Kunduz village around Yeşilyurt, 4 km from the district centre, about 1,500 m from the road and 300 m up the slope. Its entrance has the look of a rounded arch, the inside is covered with stone and earth, and local tradition says it was once used as a mint. It is a simple, undeveloped cave, quite different from Ballıca’s lit halls.

Combine with Tokat’s old town. The cave is a half-day trip; spend the rest of the day at the Gök Medrese, Taşhan and the Tokat Museum.

Frequently asked questions about Ballıca Cave

What do the official records say about Ballıca Cave?

One of the important tourist places in the province is Ballıca Cave near Pazar district. The cave, 680 metres long and 94 metres deep, is made up of five levels connected to each other partly horizontally and partly vertically, and eight large halls, and in some parts formations are still continuing. The most important feature of Ballıca Cave, where an average temperature of 18 degrees Celsius prevails in summer and winter, is that it is formed of onion stalactites, found in no other cave in Türkiye. The “dwarf bats” that live in colonies in different parts of the cave are its most distinctive living group. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Tokat Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)

Main photo: Ümit1991, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.