Kythnos Katafiki Cave

Location: Driopida

The Cave of Katafiki in Kythnos is believed to be one the biggest caves in Greece. Discovered in the 1830s, it has unique stalagmites and rock formations, some of them being unique rock curtains, as described by Fiedler, a geologist who was the first recorded visitor in the cave in 1841.

This cave, an important tourist attraction on the island today, was used as an iron mine until 1939. Unfortunately, several original formations within the cave were destroyed during the iron mining days, though some have survived.
Katafiki was also used by the locals as a shelter during the Second World War. Nowadays, locals meet at the cave annually to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ.

Easily accessible through some stone paths, the cave is quite impressive in size. With its entrance measuring 2,5 meters in height and about 20 meters wide, it is smaller today due to clutter. The cave was fully carved out during the mining period, hence it is mostly man-made. Indeed, to this day, there is no evidence to suggest that the cave could have been inhabited during ancient times.