A Magnificent Salt mine located outside of Cankiri city in northern Turkey, which is nearly 5000 year old still produces 500 tones of salt every year. Not just that it was first mined by ancient race called Hittites in 3000BC.
All pictures were taken for national geographic contest.
At first glance, the hilly area around the town of Cankiri in Turkey is nothing special. However, at a depth of 1,300 feet underground, there is an amazing salt mine, first dug by primitive man about 5,000 years ago. Despite its incredible age, this mine is still used today and produces over 500 tons of salt every year, which is used for cooking and various souvenirs. The cave is a very old salt cave, so it is cool and odorless. All walls are made of rock salt and vary in texture depending on the excavators used.
The temperature in the city regularly reaches 33 ° C, but the mercury in the ancient caves does not exceed 15 ° C.
The Hitties were an ancient race who built an empire in the Middle East which covered most of modern-day central Turkey, northern Syria and Iraq and flourished between 1,400 and 1,200BC.
They were known for their ability to construct and make Chariots. Additionally they used to write in a hieroglyphic language called cuneiform. They were finally destroyed after several wars, especially after the defeat of the army of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II. The race for the thrown deceit their race. The mine currently employs 16 workers, small restaurants, mosques, repair shops, workshops and first aid rooms. All ore extracted at the mine, with a purity of about 90% is transported by an excavator to the nearest railway, and from there to processing plants.
There is so much salt contained in the ground around the mine that it appears around the edge of a nearby lake after being dissolved into the water.
