Cave of the Lakes in Achaia

Cave of the Lakes is located in the village Kastria of Achaia, 60km from Tripoli (tunnel at Artemision) and 9 Km from Kleitoria.

Cave of the Lakes is a rare creation of Nature. Apart from its labyrinth of corridors, its mysterious galleries and its strange stalactite formations, the Cave of the Lakes has something exclusively unique that does not exist in other well known caves.

Inside the Cave of the Lakes there is a string of cascading lakes forming three different levels that establish its uniqueness in the world.

The Cave of the Lakes is an old subterranean river whose explored length is 1980 meters. In winter when the snow melts, the Cave of the Lakes is transformed into a subterranean river with natural waterfalls. In the summer months, part of the cave dries up revealing a lace-work of stone-basins and dams of up to 4 m. in height. The rest of the cave retains water permanently throughout the year in 13 picturesque lakes.

At the cave’s lower floor, human and animal fossils were found, among which that of a hippopotamus. This part of the Cave of the Lakes is intended to become a biological cave laboratory of international standing.

Legend of the Cave of the Lakes

The Cave of the Lakes legend says that the daughters of Proitos, king of Tirynth, Lyssippi, Ifinoy and Ifianassa, bragged that they were more beautiful than the Goddess Hera and scorned the worship of the God Dionysus. Zeus’s mate didn’t forgive their vanity and took their sanity, causing them to believe that they were heifers running wild on the mountains and meadows of Peloponnese, infecting the women of Argolida with the craze of infanticide. Someday they arrived at the cave of Aroanios were they were found by Melambodas who cured them. He then led them to the village Loussoi.

Read more:

https://www.kastriacave.gr/en/