Take a quick glimpse and you might take for granted it ’s just a cavernous intake in a drop-off face , but bet closer and you ’ll see this is the remains of an ancient grave adorned with pillar and once - grand carvings . Despite its beauty and uniquenesses , the stunning diachronic site is rapidly vanish in the face of disregard and natural erosion .
It ’s known as the Kalekapı Tomb at Donalar , located near the town of Taşköprü in Northern Turkey not far from the sea-coast of the Black Sea .
high up up in the drop face , there ’s a rectangular inlet fronted by a porch with two thick pillar . Inside , there ’s a tomb chamber measuring some 10 by 15 meters ( 32 by 49 groundwork ) . It alsoreportedlyfeatures a hammam Turkish bathroom , providing some hints about its possible use in ancient fourth dimension .
The outer relief of the tomb has faded severely in recent years.Image credit: Dosseman/Wikimedia Commons(CC BY-SA 4.0)
It await like the sort of tomb even Lara Croft wouldstruggle to descale , but there is a childlike agency to enter : at the top of the drop , there ’s manifestly an entrance down a tunnel via a ladder .
wall the porch in the rock grimace , it ’s decorated with agiant relief of carvings , including a human battling a king of beasts , a bull , a griffon - similar beast , and perhaps a unicorn . Scholars conceive the depiction of these secret beasts , which are pretty unusual for the neighborhood , shows the traces of Hellenistic Greek and Persian civilisation that was left in this region .
Tragically , the carving are wither fast . Most recent picture fail to show any animals in the succour , but they are importantly more visible inimages takenjust a few age ago .
Around 10 kilometers ( 6 miles ) away from the Kalekapı Tomb at Donalar , you could visit the more celebrated Roman city of Pompeiopolis . However , the stone - boldness tomb is likely century of years old than these impressive Roman ruins .
Some claimthe grave was make for the chiefs who rise to power on the coattails of the Persian Empire during the late 5th century to early 4th one C BCE . Othersourcessuggest it was built by the Paphlagonians in the eye of the 7th century BCE . Either way , it ’s safe to say the grave is likely around 2,500 year old .
The centuries have not been tolerant to the tomb – and the preceding three decades have been even crueler . As you may see in the images , the shape of the mainstay has softened and the facade have faded from their former glory .
Lütfi Gültekin , surrogate director of finish and social affaire of Taşköprü municipality , recently toldHürriyet Daily Newsthat the past 30 years have see crushing eating away to the out relief , which he blame on acid rainfall andclimate modification .
However , Gültekin impart that local authorities have been trying to foster touristry to the site and encourage further archaeological exploration , which they go for will prompt the government to enforce tighter protection and safeguard its future .
