Cave of the Lakes

Interesting facts

Stalagmites from the cave preserve a record of the sharp cold spell about 8,200 years ago, one of the few such archives identified in the Northern Hemisphere.

Inside the mountain the passage climbs about 100 metres, from roughly 820 to 920 metres above sea level, across its stepped lakes.

The exploration was set off by the Kyriakopoulos brothers, merchants from Kleitoria, who walked into the Hellenic Alpine Club's offices asking for people to explore the cave.

In 1964 Kastria villagers first reached the second level by climbing wooden ladders up a rock step about nine metres high.

The exploration was completed on Holy Thursday of 1965, and the account of the first expedition appeared in the Alpine Club's magazine To Vouno.

Works to open the cave began in 1981, but the first section was not handed over to visitors until 1990.

Humidity inside stays consistently high, ranging from about 71 to 96 percent depending on outside temperature and air circulation.

The hippopotamus bones found on the lowest level are an unusual discovery for the mountains of the Peloponnese.

Why it is worth it

Inside a mountain near the village of Kastria in the northern Peloponnese, a former underground river has left behind a staircase of thirteen lakes, one above the other, each held back by a natural dam of calcite built up by dripping water. The terraces step down through chambers richly hung with stalactites, and walkways raised above the water carry visitors from one level to the next. Cascading lakes of this kind are found in other caves, but a sequence of this length on a single course is exceptionally rare, and it gives the Cave of the Lakes its name.

The cave is a fossil river bed developed on three levels, with a total length of about 1,980 metres, of which some 500 metres have been opened to visitors. Its character changes with the seasons: when snow on the surrounding mountains melts, water flows through it as a river with small waterfalls, and in drier months the flow stops and the stepped pools are left standing. Visitors enter through an artificial tunnel that leads directly to the middle of the three levels.

For a long time the cave was known only locally, under the name Troupisio. In 1964 villagers from Kastria climbed to its second level on wooden ladders, and in January 1965 a team from the Hellenic Alpine Club made the first reconnaissance at the invitation of local merchants. The cave was then mapped, with the Hellenic Speleological Society and the speleologist Anna Petrocheilou continuing the work, and fossilised bones of humans and animals, including hippopotamus, were found on the lowest level. Archaeological finds show that people used the cave from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age. Development for visitors began in 1981 under the Greek National Tourism Organisation, and the cave is now run by the municipality of Kalavryta. The cave is linked to myth as well: tradition identifies it with the place where the seer Melampus cured the daughters of Proetus, king of Tiryns, Lysippe and Iphianassa, whose sister Iphinoe had died on the way; the cave is also mentioned by the ancient traveller Pausanias.

Getting there

The cave lies near the village of Kastria in the municipality of Kalavryta, Achaea, about 17 km from the town of Kalavryta and 9 km from Kleitoria. The coastal town of Aigio is about 32 km away in a straight line. The nearest airport is Araxos (GPA), near Patras, about 66 km away. The cave is reached by road from Kalavryta.

Cave of the Lakes

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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