Creatures of the deep were not monstrous; they were honest. A blind fox with fur the color of old paper trotted beside me for a while, its paws making no sound on the muffled floor. A tribe of beetles marched like tiny soldiers, carrying grain of gypsum on their backs. Once, a glimmering fish swam through the air as if the cavern were sea; its scales flicked light into my lantern glass, and for a moment I felt the ocean's memory in my bones.
Just outside the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq lies a place that seems to have been ripped from the pages of a Jules Verne novel. It is called , which translates from Kurdish to "Father of Eternal Fire". For at least 4,000 years, a natural gas vent at this location has burned continuously. Before the age of oil exploration, local Kurdish women would make pilgrimages to the flames, praying for blessings like the birth of a son, while shepherds would bring their flocks to warm themselves in the cold winter months.
Kurdistan is home to some of the deepest and least explored cave systems on the planet. Deep vertical pits and limestone caverns stretch thousands of meters into the crust.
Inspired by Jules Verne's classic science fiction novel, "Journey to the Center of the Earth," we're embarking on a thrilling adventure with a Kurdish flavor. Get ready to explore the uncharted territories of the Earth's interior, alongside a team of brave and resourceful Kurdish explorers.
Feeling the literal heat of our earth and the fire of our heritage.
Sometimes at night I press the pebble to my ear and hear the slow pulse of the earth—the long, patient rhythm that is both a lullaby and a stern teacher. I tell the children a version of the story where the center is a kitchen and the world a table, where every traveller brings a spice and learns to share. They ask if I saw monsters; I tell them monsters are only the parts of us we refuse to feed.
Here the heat was not only physical. It was the south-slope blaze of remembered summers, the oven that baked bread for newlyweds, the tender scorch of a mother's palm on a fevered brow. I understood then: the center is where stories are browned and made edible, where grief is kneaded until it yields and becomes bread.
Located near the historical site of Takht-e Soleyman in Tekab. Zanbil and Garmaw: Popular springs in the Urmia area. Suleiman Prison: Known for its mineral water.