Cave of Alistrati

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Cave of Alistrati

The cave of Alistrati is very impressive with a rich fossil decor, beauty and variety of stalagmites and stalactites, both in terms of types and in terms of age. Water started its activity here 2 million years ago. This is one of the most beautiful caves in Greece, located 6 km southeast of Alistrati. There are old stalactites’ formations which often clog the tunnels of the cave, but also stalagmites still in early stages of formation. On the right, next to the entrance of the cave, one can find old stalactites, while opposite, in the gallery called Pantelonakia (“shorts”) stand some “infant” ones. Within the galleries of the cave, apart from stalactites and stalagmites, one can meet helictites fed by small openings in the rocks, pearls that are limestone fusions in the form of a sphere, “shields” with a large diameter and oval shaped fossils characterized by their ellipsoidal shape. As much as it seems strange, the cave is inhabited by many forms of life. Seven species of bats hang from its icy walls and 36 more species of microorganisms live inside it: dolichopoda, myriapods, a native bug, an isopod of a few millimetres, a lepidopteron, lycopods, coleoptera, and an unusual type named in honour of the cave “Alistratia Beron”. Throughout the cave route, there exists this secret form of life hidden in white. At the end, a dense forest of 1,100 meters of stalagmites reaching up to 10 meters of height and 7 meters of width, leaves the visitors’ eyes gazing this new-born beauty.

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