Sahoolan Cave – Mahabad

Sahoolan is located 43 km southeast of Mahabad in West Azarbaijan Province, Iran. This limestone water cave has two main sections, a waterway which visitors ride on a boat to discover the amazing attraction of it and a dry part which tourists walk up through the chambers and corridors to visit the hidden undergrounds of this beautiful natural cave. The name is taken from the nearby Sahoolan Village, the word “Sahoolan” in Kurdish means ice and freezing, because the climate in the area is very cold in winter. This cave is also called the “pigeon or dove nest” cave because there are many pigeon liveing inside, they lay eggs even within reach of visitors so closed that visitors can touch them, doves and bats are the main residents of Saholan Cave. The cave has two entrances, the tour starts from the first entrance with a big jetty chamber, a 200m water trip by boat to the main chamber and it continues in a series of dry corridors and out through the second entrance, the second entrance shows a history of human habitation in the past, black soot smoke on the walls and ceiling shows evidence of long term use of campfires in old ages. Besides the this natural wonder, there are some historical evidence of old ages too, some paintings on the walls of passages and corridors belonging to Parthian dynasty. This tourist destination is cool in summer and freezing in winter. Many sources indicate that this is the second largest water cave in the country after Alisadr in Hamedan. Sahoulan is a very interesting natural target especially for foreign tourists and Mt Damavand climbers, a recommended destination to visit the beauties of Iran nature besides their climbing and other outdoor activities.