Cave

The history of the cave dates back to 1960. The president of the community, on the occasion of the late speleologist’s Anna Petrochilou visit to the area, charged two young men at the time being, Apostolis Lampris and George K. Karakostas, with widening a cleft which emitted cool air, so that its interior could be explored. After 10 m. of crawling with difficulty, they came across a wide cavity, but the lack of lighting equipment did not allow them to go deeper into the cave. Afterwards though, a part of the cave (270 m. of length) has been explored and is now open to visitors. The cave has three levels. The higher and oldest one has collapsed in the past and there remain only parts of it. The intermediate level is open to visitors. The third level is the bed of a subterranean river, visible at the end of the visitor’s path. In a distance of 10 meters from that path, it transforms to a 2 meter high cascade. The water of this subterranean river reappears in the form of a spring within the ravine, 25 meters below the cave’s entrance. The part that is open to visitors has a length of 250 m. The entrance and the exit coincide. Three ponds in nuances of grey, pink and white have been formed under the wonderfully colored stalagmites. The cave is home to various kinds of insects such as the Lepidoptera. The route: Right after the entrance the corridor leads to the First Chamber (17 meters long), which is decorated with some beautiful curtain-like stalactites that reach the floor. On the left the corridor opens into the Chamber of the River. The stairs lead through the ornate corridor into the Big Hall with its 6 meters of height and its decoration of candle-like formations, the Waterfall and the Grey Pond. The two direction stairs lead to the White Pond Chamber which is set behind a series of stalagmites. Then, come the 52 meters of the Corridor of Wealth, decorated in the most impressive colorful way. The corridor then leads to the Red Lake Chamber. The running water of the lake fills up some terraced stone basins and together with the graceful stalactite ornaments they create a unique spectacle. The path continues to a downward corridor, divided into two areas by a huge boulder. On its left, it opens into one more wonderful pond. On the right, the floor upon which flows the Red Lake’s shallow water, is covered by some wonderful fossils. And the route ends with the last accessible to the visitor part of the cave, where the corridor gets extremely sloping. The corridor leads to the Chamber of the Red Lake. Staggered stone basins receive the running waters of the lake and with a finely composition stalactite ornaments they create a unique spectacle. Then, a downhill corridor is opened, divided in two by a huge boulder. To the left one more splendid pond. To the right, the floor is covered with beautiful fossils, up on which flows the few waters of Red Lake. They end up to a very steep, accessible part of the cave.