CANKIRI / ISTANBUL

An underground salt cave in Türkiye’s Central Anatolia region, where salt has been mined since the Hittite era, attracted 1.8 million visitors in 2025, marking a 20% increase from the previous year, Cankiri Mayor İsmail Hakki Esen said.

The Underground Salt City cave, located about 20 kilometers from Cankiri’s city center, covers an enclosed area of 24,000 square meters and features a 200-year-old donkey preserved intact, taxidermied animals, as well as numerous sculptures and works of art.

Esen said promotional efforts in recent years have played a key role in boosting visitor numbers.

“The Touristic Salt Express and the health-related projects we implemented had a very significant impact. Next year, our visitors will see a very different salt cave, as we will be creating additional spaces,” he said.

The mayor noted that the cave’s enclosed area was expanded from 18,000 square meters to 24,000 square meters with the addition of new sections.

“By further developing the area we have created for health tourism, we will open Cankiri to international health tourism as well,” Esen said.

He added that the city’s infrastructure is sometimes strained by the influx of visitors.

“In some cases, the city’s infrastructure is not able to accommodate visitors because they arrive in large groups,” he said.

Esen said authorities are preparing the necessary infrastructure to handle large visitor groups and turn Cankiri into a tourism city.

“By preparing the necessary infrastructure in our city, we aim to turn Cankiri into a tourism city. The salt cave, whose development began five years ago, continues to increase its contribution to Cankiri’s tourism every year. I believe these numbers will rise much more in the coming period,” he said.