Travel time 1.5 hours
Approximately 11 kilometres south of Areopolis are the famous Diros Caves. They are part of an underground river. The known part of the caves covers an area of around 33,000 square meters of which only 5,000 square meters have been explored. Gondoliers steer small boats through narrow passageways, around beautiful formations of stalagmites and stalactites, their colours created by rainwater penetrating the calcium carbonate in the rock. The caves have served as places of worship in Palaeolithic and Neolithic times; they are thought by many to be connected to the Underworld.
The Diros Caves are perhaps the most important natural site in Greece. The artefacts found here, many of which are in display in the museum, confirms that the caves were one of the earliest inhabited places in Greece. Important life forms have also been discovered in the caves such as prehistoric ox and believe it or not, hippopotamus bones.
Local people say that the caves go even further, maybe as far as Mount Taygetos and Sparta.
Located at the top of the Mani between the town of Pirgos Dirou and Areopolis the entrance is a few meters above the sea and a stone beach.
When you enter the cave you will walk down a stairway to an underground lake where there are boats waiting. You are given a life-vest and then each boat gets a guide, who uses poles to journey through the caverns and tunnels, which are eerily lit and adorned with stalactites and stalagmites, many with interesting names, such as the First Room, the Dead City, the Crossroad of Nereids, the Lake of Ocean Nymphs, the Pink and White Room, and the Big Ocean. You will pass through some sections just wide enough to allow your boat, where you have to duck your head and then enter into an enormous subterranean room where you can hear the voices of people on other boats in the distance.
The air is a comfortable seventy degrees at any time of the year (so bring a sweater or light jacket if you tend to get cold).
The boat trip takes around half an hour and then there is a ten minute walk to the exit.
Visit the Neolithic Museum where you will see many discoveries.
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