FIVE YEARS LATER

Issue 47 of ELLINIKO PANORAMA (Sept.-Oct. 2005) featured a long article about a cave little known to the general public. It was the “Cave of the Dragon” in Kastoria. The columnist was the caveologist Giorgos Avagianos, who had already since 1977 penetrated the sanctuary of the cave. The article contained fascinating images and descriptions, which had greatly excited our desire to get to know the cave. This, unfortunately, was not possible because the cave was not open to visitors, neither in 2005 nor in the years that followed. Fatefully, therefore, the existence of the cave faded in our memory. Until December 13, 2009. On that day, the cave officially opened its doors and revealed its arcane treasures to the astonished public. The news of the development filled us with joy. The ELLINIKO PANORAMA could not fail to benefit.

IN THE CITY OF KASTORIA

All the times we have come to this city, in any weather conditions and in any season, the feeling is always the same: Kastoria is by far the most exciting continental city in Greece. Not only for its unique landscape, this unique interplay of the wet element and the land. But also for its famous mansions, which have survived (1), and for its ancient and amazing Byzantine churches.

At the beginning of February we start the perimeter road that follows the acropolis. With bright morning sunshine and only two degrees below zero, it is impossible to freeze the surface of the lake. Only some spots in the shallows retain a thin layer of ice, which every now and then loses its consistency and crumbles into the water. Whether frozen or not, calm and sunny or wild and dark, the Kastoria lake offers images of unsurpassed beauty. It may be some of its birds, silver pelicans, swans, phalaropes or cormorants. It may be the lonely figure of a fisherman, lifting his nets or rowing slowly. Or it may simply be the long, bending branches of a plantain as they lower and touch the water.

Our short journey is coming to an end. In a few minutes we have arrived in front of the entrance of the Dragon Cave.

IN THE SANCTUARY OF THE CAVE

What’s this cave like? The question is always the same, since no two caves are alike. Each one has its own uniqueness, just like the personalities of people, each one unique. So we are standing in front of the Dragon Cave. At an altitude of 650 meters above sea level and just 15 meters from the shore of the lake. With us is Grigoris Nikolaou, from the Tourist Enterprise of the Municipality of Kastoria. The arched door opens, two or three seconds pass, enough to transport us to another world, a new reality. A world far from the outside environment with its blinding sunlight, the croaking of cormorants, the icy breeze of the February morning. Inside here everything seems balanced, undisturbed. No air current moves between us. Whatever happens a few yards away, a storm or a squall, it is impossible to affect the blissfulness of the cave.

The temperature of the atmosphere is stable, between 16-18 degrees. The humidity is equally stable, ranging from 80-90%. The lighting is subtle, initially appearing low. By the time we get used to it, our footsteps are tentative. A few seconds later our adaptation to the lighting conditions is complete. And the images we so longed to see begin to follow one another.

The sense of the liquid element has been with us from the beginning. It comes from the ponds along the corridor. A corridor with the right width dimensions, paved with non-slip cement and protected by railings. The water in the ponds is crystal clear, nothing here can contaminate it. Its surface would be perfectly still if it were not sporadically disturbed by concentric circles. They are created by the tear-like droplets that escape every now and then from the roof of the cave or from the delicate tubes inside the stalactites. This dripping, thinner in summer and more frequent during the rainy season, shows us that the lithic decoration of the Dragon’s Cave is constantly growing, the cave is still alive. A soft orchestral music can be heard, harmoniously combined with the images of ethereal stone figures and water.

The first room of the cave is of limited dimensions and quite low. Its decoration, while not poor, is not particularly impressive. But the same is not the case with the next, larger room. From its ceiling hang countless small stalactites, suffocatingly close to each other, a veritable shower of stone. Their colour is white with beige tones, and they end in a sharp edge. Beautiful but much less rich is the stalagmite decoration, with the stalagmites looking like little trees planted here and there. With the uninterrupted drip over the centuries several stalactites have joined the stalagmites to form columns, connecting the ground to the roof.

This first room is only a few dozen metres from the entrance to the cave. Immediately afterwards the main corridor branches off into a secondary corridor to the right. We ascend a few steps and end after about ten metres in a small balcony. The presence of water a little lower down again creates dreamlike images. Wonderful parapet stalactites, columns, torrents of countless small and large stalactites.

We return to the main corridor and continue our penetration into the depths of the cave. At some point the solid ground stops. The rocky floor of the cave is covered by the waters of a pond, the largest we have encountered so far. Here the concrete walkway gives way for nearly ten metres to a graceful floating footbridge, which in all safety connects the banks of the pond. We march these few yards over the water. Somewhere in between we stop for a while. We don’t know what to admire first, what to photograph. All around us water, galleries and cavities with soft lighting, shadows and reflections of stalactites and stalagmites. Now and then the imperceptible thump of a drop on the surface of the lake can be heard. Immediately then, concentric circles break the stillness of the water. For a few seconds the reflections flicker. Then again the pond calms down. Until the next droplet escapes through the tube of a stalactite or a crack in the roof.

We ascend after the bridge and see on our right a door with an arched door. There is no doubt, it is the exit of the cave, unfortunately much shorter than we expected. But here we are, the wonders are not yet over in the Dragon Cave. We first encounter a fork in the road on the left. A few metres later we find ourselves in a spectacular setting, with countless stalactites and stalagmites of all sizes, types and shapes.

We return to the main corridor, walk for 15-20 meters and suddenly we are at the entrance of the largest room of the cave. At 45 meters long and a maximum width of 17 meters, the hall is truly impressive. Even more impressive is its decoration. Curtains dominate here, creating incredible shapes and folds, at every point of the ceiling and walls. It is the apotheosis of nature’s sculptural creativity. Only perhaps a leading Greek sculptor of antiquity could have carved in marble or stone folds of such plasticity, such transparency, such fragile delicacy.

Our magical journey to the great hall is coming to an end. At that very moment the room fills with joyful voices. They are the children of the Third Primary School of Kastoria, who come to get to know the treasures of their place.

At the entrance of the cave we blink our eyes. The sunlight is strong. Everything is as we left it a few hours ago. Only the fisherman and his boat have wandered off into the open sea.

References

(1) ELLINIKO PANORAMA, issue 21, MAY-JUNE 2005, “THE ARCHONTICS OF KASTRORIA”

Some Interesting Facts about the Cave of the Dragon

(From the article by G. Avagianos).

In the 1963 expedition of the Hellenic Speleological Society (H.S.S.), bones of the Cave Bear (Ursus spelaeus) were found at the beginning of the great hall. Among these bones, there were jaw segments with fangs and large bones. The species Ursus spaeleus lived in Europe from 10 to 100,000 years ago. It reached a height of 2.5 metres and weighed up to 500 kg.

As far as its geological past is concerned, Kastoria belongs to the Pelagonian zone. Like all of Greece, 100 million years ago it was covered by a deep sea, the Tethys. The area has been landlocked for 45 million years. The rocks found here today are limestone, marble, dolomite and chalk.

The Cave of the Dragon is opened along branches, i.e. cracks in the rock, with a northerly direction. The high level of Lake Kastoria in earlier periods contributed to its opening. The water completely flooded the cave during its formation. During periods of very low water levels, the stalagmites that are now submerged in water were formed.

It must have taken around 6 million years for the cave to reach its present form and, of course, it is much larger than it is today.