A SMALL lake in the affectionately-named Zeus Cave, located close to the Kuşadası entrance of Dilek National Park, continues to draw attention with its turquoise color and clarity.
The lake is said, by local legend and mythology, to be where the goddess of love, Aphrodite, bathed and swam, and ultimately became beautiful.
Located right at the entrance of the park, the existence of the cave is not very clear from the outside. The cave, which can be reached after a 1 kilometer walk, has many stories.
It is also believed that the Virgin Mary stopped by and washed during her journey to Ephesus. It is also believed that Zeus rested in this cave to escape the wrath of his brother Poseidon and wait for him to calm down.
In the cave, which is 60 meters long, 20 meters wide and 10 meters deep, the water of the lake, which is formed by the seepage in the rocks, is cold in summer and warm in winter.
Swimming is not allowed in the cave, but those who visit can watch and photograph the cave from the specially set up platform. No living creatures can be seen in the water in the cave. Due to the mineral structure of the rocks and the water circulation, the water inside the cave is always clean and maintains its turquoise color.
Under the control of the gendarmerie and national park officials, scuba diving was recently carried out in the lake with local and foreign diving instructors.
Diving instructor Tağmaç Saraçoğlu said that they dived to 9 meters in the cave and stayed in the water for about 45 minutes. Emphasizing that it is very dangerous to swim here, Saraçoğlu said: “Works can be carried out in the cave with special permission.
“If you enter places such as tunnels, you may not find the point you came in. You should never do these dives without training. Zeus Cave gives people excitement. Visibility was fine.”
Dutch diver Paul Knörr, who lives in Kuşadası, also expressed that he was very happy to experience such an important point. “The rocks, especially in the cave, are really loose and can break very quickly.”