The Incirli Cave – Cyprus’s largest cave. Hidden away off the beaten track, near the little village of Çinarli in the north of Cyprus. The entrance is so small that you would never know it was there. Yet inside is a cave that stretches over 100 metres and is full of stalactites and stalagmites.  As a massive cave enthusiast, I had to go and see it for myself.

We visited the Incirli Cave last week during a half-term holiday to the Karpaz peninsula. Drive through Famagusta and up the coastal road until you get to a big roundabout, then head inland towards Sinirüstü. We turned right along the road just before the lake and headed north towards Altinova.

The countryside along this stretch of road was exquisite. I love Cyprus in the Spring when it is carpeted with yellow flowers. You could see for miles, the Beşparmak mountains on the horizon.

A word of advice here: if you don’t mind driving along high hillside tracks where there is a sharp drop on one side with no barrier, then follow the road past Agillar and it will bear left and eventually take you to the Incirli Cave. We drove along this road on the way back and I got such a bad case of the Mummy-Wobbles that I had to get out of the car. The photo below doesn’t look as scary as it felt.

Alternatively, you can follow a farm track, which is very bumpy and slow-going (and you might scrape the bottom of a non-4×4 car), but it cuts through a valley and there are no sharp drops. A third option is to approach from the opposite direction by continuing along the main road from the big roundabout until you get to Geçitkale. Then turn north and head for Çinarli (formally called Platani). We didn’t go this way so I can’t vouch for the roads, but I have a strong suspicion that it’s a far better route.

Just before you get to Çinarli village (if you are coming from the direction of Agillar), a track bears sharply left. Turn down there.  If you are coming from the direction of the village (option 3) you will see a sign to the caves at this junction. If you are following the route we took, you won’t see it because the sign is facing the wrong direction. But there aren’t any other tracks bearing sharp left, so you’ll know it when you see it.

This track ends at the cave. Thankfully there’s a loo there. You walk up a slope to a ticket hut and the entrance to the cave is a little further up. Honestly, even at this point I would never have spotted the cave entrance if it wasn’t for the signs. It is so well-concealed behind the fig tree it is named after. Legend has it that the cave was discovered by thieves on the run and that they hid their stolen goods inside the cave. In the 1950s and 60s the cave was used as an EOKA hideout.

Two flights of steps take you from the cave entrance down into the widest and longest part of the cave. From the size of the entrance, I wondered whether the cave would feel claustrophobic, but it didn’t at all.

The Incirli Cave, or Fig Cave, is a naturally-formed gypsum cave – the only known gypsum cave in the north part of the island. But as I walked along the main passageway, I wondered how many undiscovered caves are out there, waiting to be found.

The cave is well-lit and lined with cauliflower-like structures, formed out of the gypsum. I’ve visited many caves, but haven’t seen structures like these before.

Stalactites hung from the ceiling and stalagmites rose out of the floor. Some felt smooth, some coarse, some wet. Goobie loved them.

The cave stretches to a length of 311 metres, though only 70 metres is accessible to visitors. It is between 1-7 metres wide and the height is variable. Near the entrance the ceiling is 6 metres high, but as we neared the end of the main passageway, we had to duck under a low part of the ceiling in order to continue.

Towards the back of the cave, the passageway narrows and turns sharp right. This part of the cave felt more maze-like and was my favourite area. Little corridors branched off into darkened nooks and rock formations swept upwards in beautiful curves.

The pathway along this part of the cave isn’t as easy to follow and has a few drops. We had to help Goobie along parts of it, but I wouldn’t have felt comfortable taking a younger child to this part of the cave, unless he was being carried in a sling.

I really enjoyed visiting the Incirli Cave. Even Matt was impressed and he’s usually cave-weary from being married to me. I got talking to a Cypriot photographer a few days later and was told that there are larger caves in Cyprus but none that are safe enough to visit. The Incirli Cave is by no means the biggest cave I’ve ever visited but it is the largest I’ve been to in Cyprus and it was really pretty. Well worth a visit if you are in that part of the island.