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There are three hundred (300) caves of great interest to explore, with
great geological and aesthetic interest and, some of them, with
archaeological and historical importance.
Pelekita
Peristera
Oxo Latsidi
Mikro & Megalo Katofygi
Pelekita
The cave is located north-east of the sea of Kato Zakros between
Karoumes and Kato Zakros beach. You can reach it after an hour’s journey
from Kato Zakros by motorboat and a trek uphill. The mouth of the cave
is located at a height of 105m above sea level. The whole area is
commonly known as Pelekita, a name derived from the quarry below the
cave, close to the sea, from which stone was extracted that was used in
the building of the Minoan palace at Chiona. The other name "Sykias
Spilios" was given to the cave because of the large fig tree at its
entrance. Below the cave one can see the sea as if viewing it from a
plane.
You will see stalactites and stalagmites in wonderful shapes along the
path inside the cave. However, you need to be careful because there are
some difficult spots to cross in your exploration!
Peristeras
It is located approximately 1.3 km east of the village of Karidi, 22 km
from Palekastro and 20 from Sitia. There are two noteworthy caves in the
Karidi area, both with evidence of habitation. They are the Katofygi
cave at Limnilakkos and the Peristeras cave. This latter is one of the
more important Cretan caves. It is some 300 m north of the public road
and the place is known both as Platyvolo and Peristeras. The mouth of
the cave is at 540 m above sea level. It is a deep subterranean cavern
opening into Jurassic limestone, and the lowest point is located at 63 m
lower than the mouth of the cave.
The opening is 23,5 m wide and 12 m high, but a big rock fall prevents
close examination of much of the entrance area. From here one passes
into a huge chamber 80 m deep and 35 m wide; at one side the height
varies between 2-12m. At the back left of this chamber a narrow gap
leads, following a sharp drop of 4m, into a series of curved chambers
which swing round to lead up again to the left wall of the main chamber.
Nature has adorned the first two chambers richly with stalactites,
stalagmites and pillars of stone. In the third and fourth chambers human
bones were found alongside other signs of habitation. From examination
of the remains it has been concluded that the cave was in use from the
Early Minoan to the Late Minoan period, and also in Byzantine times.
From the book "Sitia", N.Papadakis, Archaeologist, 1983
Katofygi
The village Agios Georgios, is located 14 km away from Sitia, on the
Sitia-Makrigialos-Ierapetra road. Anyone interested in caves should not
fail to visit the Micro Katofygi cave (425 m above sea level) north-west
of the village, on the slopes of the hill of Mandiliou Plai. It was
inhabited in ancient times and remains of Early Minoan period were found
inside, as well as bones of humans and other mammals.
The cave consists of a small chamber from which a sloping gallery
descends some 40 m into the hillside, with many naturally decorative
features, and hollows filled with water. Not far away is the Megalo
Katofygi cave. It has an opening 3,20 m wide and consists of two
chambers, the first of which is 24 m deep and 12 m wide and the second
42m deep and 11m wide. The second chamber has four bays, in one of which
there is a big pool of water. The entire course inside of the cave is
almost 100m.
From the book "Sitia", N.Papadakis, Archaeologist, 1983
Oxo Latsidi
The cave is found at Patelia, 1km north-west of the village of Sitanos,
25km from Sitia. Its mouth is located at a height of 610m above sea
level. Its walls are of Jurassic limestone. Further north there are
Pre-Tertiary Filites, and north-west and north-east there are small
masses of Dolomitic rock from the Tertiary period. Only 50m of the cave
had been explored by the locals. Then, P. Faure explored the whole cave
on the 26th of July, 1967. Some days later, it was mapped and studied by
El. Platakis and Io. Tsiftetakis. The entire length of the cave is 360
m. After the entrance, there are two chambers, one 34m x 16m, and to the
right of it another, 32m deep. From the left-hand chamber a long narrow
gallery extends for 330m into the hillside; it is between 2 to 8m wide
but only 0,50 to 1,50m high. The streams of water give the impression
that it was probably once the bed of an underground river. It is rather
lacking in naturally decorative features. Recent research show that it
could be up to 1000m in length.
From the book "Sitia", N.Papadakis, Archaeologist, 1983
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