The Chamber of the Queen
A wide space with stone columns metres high.
Lubomir Mihalik โ CC BY 3.0 ยท Henkgron at Dutch Wikipedia โ CC BY-SA 3.0
**An underground hall whose acoustics are good enough that concerts are held in it** โ minutes from Melissani near Sami. The cave was found some three centuries ago when an **earthquake opened** a way in. A **long stair** descends to about **60 metres**, opening into the **"Chamber of the Queen"**: a wide space dense with **stalactites, stalagmites and columns**, some metres high, and all still **active** โ water continues to drip and deposit calcite slowly. โ The formations are reckoned to be **hundreds of thousands of years old**, growing **millimetres per century**. โ The chamber's acoustics are exceptional โ **concerts and opera performances have genuinely been held here**, and it is still occasionally used. โ The interior is **very humid** and the steps are slippery. โ And it is open all year โ **the refuge on a wet day**.
A wide space with stone columns metres high.
Water still drips and deposits calcite slowly today.
A hall used for concerts โ try standing and listening in silence.
Sami, 28080 Kefalonia, Greece
**Both โ they are minutes apart and entirely different, and the order is what matters.** โ **Melissani** is an underground lake with a collapsed roof: a **15โ20 minute boat tour**, whose effect is **light-dependent** and **works only between 11 and 1**. โ **Drogarati** is a large conventional cave: a **hall of stalactites and stalagmites** you walk through at your own pace, **working at any hour** because it is artificially lit and does not depend on the sun. โ **The planning difference is decisive**: Melissani is **time-constrained** and Drogarati **is not**. โ **So the right order**: build your day around **Melissani in the midday window**, and put **Drogarati before it (around 10) or after it (after 2)** โ not the reverse. โ **A practical tip**: **start at Drogarati at opening**, when it is empty, then move to Melissani a little before 11 to get ahead of the queue โ that gives you both at their best.
**Because of its shape and material โ the acoustics here are not a tourist claim but a genuine physical property.** โ **Why the sound is good**: the chamber is **fully enclosed**, so sound does not leak out and outside noise does not get in โ rare in itself. **Its stone surfaces are hard and uneven**: hardness reflects sound and gives it body, while the **irregular relief** (stalactites, stalagmites and hollows) **scatters the reflections** in different directions rather than bouncing them back identically โ which suppresses harsh echo and produces a **diffuse resonance** of the kind concert halls are designed to achieve. โ **And the chamber's height** gives a relatively long reverberation time that suits the human voice and stringed instruments. โ **It has genuinely been used**: concerts and opera performances have been staged here, โ **but it is not a permanent venue** โ events are occasional and seasonal, and the cave may close on those days. โ **What you can do as a visitor**: **stand in the middle of the chamber and be silent for a moment** โ you will hear how sound behaves here.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet โ be the first.