The great chamber
Massive formations at nearly a hundred metres down.
Kondephy โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Zde โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Zde โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Zde โ CC BY-SA 4.0
Entry is **about โฌ6**. โ **โ About 400 steps down and back up** to a depth of nearly 100 metres โ **this is the real challenge**, and the climb back is the hard part. **Entirely unsuitable for a wheelchair or pushchair**, and not for knee, heart or breathing problems. โ **The steps are damp and slippery** and the handrail does not cover the whole route โ **closed shoes with a gripping sole**. โ **Cold and damp inside** even in August โ bring a layer. โ **Getting there**: a short ferry from **Pounta** (Paros) to **Antiparos** โ about 7 minutes, carrying cars, or a boat from Parikia; then about 11 km across the island. โ **It closes seasonally** and keeps limited winter hours โ check. โ **No flash photography.** โ **Do not touch the formations** and do not carve anything โ the old inscriptions are damage, not a precedent. Allow **an hour**, and half a day with the travel.
๐ฌ Ask on WhatsAppOpen in Google Maps โ**A cave whose visitors have been carving their names on its walls since antiquity** โ on the small island of **Antiparos** opposite Paros. It is among the oldest documented "tourist" caves in the world: **inscriptions and names cut into the stalagmites** date from the Hellenistic period โ including one attributed to a commander of Alexander's era โ followed by carvings from every period since, **among them Lord Byron's name**, cut during his visit in the early 19th century. โ Those inscriptions are **historic damage**, not a merit โ but they are now part of the cave's record. In **1673** something strange happened here: the French ambassador held **Christmas Mass** inside the cave before hundreds of people โ and **the stalagmite used as an altar** still stands inside. The descent is a **long stair** dropping some 100 metres to a large chamber of massive formations. โ And it is a **hard stair**: about 400 steps.
Massive formations at nearly a hundred metres down.
The formation used as an altar at the 1673 Mass.
Names cut over two thousand years, Byron's among them.
Antiparos, 84007 Greece
**A very short ferry โ among the easiest island crossings in Greece.** โ **The main route**: drive to **Pounta** on Paros's west coast (about 10 km from Parikia), then a ferry of **only about 7 minutes** to Antiparos, **carrying cars** and running frequently all day. **That means you take your own car** โ which matters, because the cave is about 11 km from Antiparos port. โ **The alternative**: a **passenger boat from Parikia** straight to Antiparos town โ longer (about 30 minutes) and seasonal, **and it does not carry cars**; from there you need a local bus or taxi to the cave. โ **A local bus on Antiparos** serves the cave seasonally โ check its timetable. โ **Allow a full half day** for the trip: ferry, road, cave and return. โ **And make a day of it**: Antiparos is a quiet, attractive island with excellent beaches (**Soros** and **Agios Georgios**) and a pleasant small town โ so do not turn back the moment you come out of the cave.
**No โ they are permanent damage, and the cave is an example of what not to do.** โ **What happened**: names and dates were cut into the cave's formations **over two thousand years**: Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and European inscriptions from the age of travellers โ **Lord Byron's among them**, at a time when carving one's name was ordinary behaviour for an educated visitor. โ **Why it is damage**: a stalagmite or stalactite grows at **a few millimetres a century** โ so a scratch taking a second **erases centuries** and is never repaired. Touching a formation alone leaves skin oils that block calcite deposition and stop its growth. โ **Why the old carvings are not removed**: because removing them would be **further damage**, and because they have themselves become **a historical record** of the cave's visitors across the ages โ so they are preserved and explained. โ **What is clearly asked of you**: **touch no formation**, **carve nothing**, **use no flash**. The old inscriptions are **not an invitation** but a warning written in stone.
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