The Cave of “Agios Antonios”

Cave of Agios Antonios (Cave of Saint Anthony)

The cave is located southwest of Palaio Karlovasi. Access is via a path starting from the central square of Palaio Karlovasi and leads to the entrance of the cave. The walk takes some 15 minutes.

The formation of the cave is the result of a massive piece of limestone cutting-off from the main limestone mass. The morphology of the cave is due to the chemical dissolution (Karst) of the overlying limestone and due to the erosion of the underlying limestone.

Inside cave is a plateau, 6 meters in diameter, from which a wide corridor, some 4,5 meters wide and 16 meters long, leads to two branches. The right one leads to a hall (Dimensions: 10 x 13 meters), where a modern chapel is built. The walls of the hall are covered with simple stone decoration. In the passage, towards the left branch, rises, across a stalagmite column, a modern dry stone (1 meter high).

Left to the stalagmite column is a small precipice, while on the right is a narrow passage leading into two oblong halls, some 17 meters long in total, which communicate via a narrow passage on both sides of the central stalagmite column.

Both halls have rich stone decoration, which includes the formation of a group of stones in the right wall of the second hall.

The end of these halls is defined by a stalagmite, some 3 meters high, on top of which a plateau has been created (Dimensions: 1 x 1 meters). From there, a second stalagmite, approximately 5 meters high, possibly leads to a second level.

During a surface search of the area, pottery fragments were discovered, dating back to the Late Roman, Byzantine and Modern Times, while some might belong to the Early Bronze Age. The light inside the cave is limited.

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