Chimera

Olympos ' Unquenchable Fire: Chimera

It is located in the southwest of Antalya province, at the southern end of Kemer district borders. It is 3 km west of the beach and 180 m above sea level. Within the borders of Olympos National Park, north west of Çirali Bay, 55 km from Antalya. The natural gas leaking through the cracks is dry and odourless. The composition of the gas consists of methane (82.96%), ethane (14.5%), nitrogen (1.5%) and carbon dioxide (1%). When the gas coming out of the Stones comes into contact with oxygen, it catches fire and burns.

Origin

For the source of the gas, it had previously been suggested that it came from an ancient Marsh, depending on the weight of methane. This opinion did not attract attention due to the scarcity and paucity of evidence. It has been suggested that the gas may have come out of the oil, but not out of the full oil reservoir. In a region where tectonic is strong, the reserve that sends gas is too small to be economic. Drilling began to take advantage of the gas, but this caused the flames to subside and begin to rise from the nearby chrome mine. The drilling was abandoned and flames continued to rise from the former site.

The number of flames changed over time. The flames were found to have exited from 2 points in 1935, 4 points in 1945 and 3 points in 1982. 1986 saw flames coming out of many more spots. The reason for the change is that the alluvium brought by the floodwaters prevents the flow out. According to the calculation, there is a gas output of 1935 m3 / h. Since the amount of deep gas is unknown, it is unpredictable how much longer it will burn.

Mythology

Natural gas source found on the cliffs north of Çıralı Coast was the subject of ancient Greek mythology. According to Greek Mythology, The Legend is as follows.

Hipponoes, son of Glaukos, King of Ephyra, kills his brother Belleros at a hunting party and takes the name Bellerophontes, which means "Belleros Eater". Bellerophontes, driven from Ephyra, took refuge with the King of Argos. The King of Argos, who cannot kill this young man who has taken refuge with him, sends him to the King of Lycia.

The Lycian King does not want to kill this poor young man and sends him to fight the lion-headed, goat-bodied, snake-tail and flaming-mouthed monster Chimera, who lives on Mount Olympos. Bellerophontes goes to fight Chimera, riding his winged horse named Pegassos. When Chimera attacks, Pegassos takes off and Bellerophontes lands and buries the Beast seven stories below the ground with his spear. Chimera, however, continues to burst into flames 7 times from the ground. According to The Legend told in Anatolia for thousands of years and thus passed on to us by Homer, the flames that still burn are the flames of Chimera, which gush from the bottom of the earth seven times.

A race is held in Olympos to celebrate the victory of Bellerophontes. Athletes ignite their torches with the sacred Chimera Fire and rush to the city of Olympus. Thus, the first example of the Olympic Games was held in Anatolia, where different sports were added later and lasted a few days. The "Olympic torch" lit today is a symbolic expression of the unenviable fire of the Chimera.