Halkidiki Petralona Cave

Location: Petralona

Petralona Cave is located near Nea Moudania, at 300 meters above sea level on the western foot of Mount Katsika. It is world-famous for the stalactite and stalagmite decoration as well as for a fossilized skull and bones of the Archanthropus of Petralona.

The cave was discovered in 1959 by a local shepherd called Filippos Hantzaridis. Sure that he had heard water flowing, he went to inform his fellow villagers about it, since water was scarce then. Two men used amateur equipment and entered the cave, only to find that there was no water there; instead, the sound of running water was created by air moving within the chambers of a big cave. A while after that, the villagers opened a second entrance to go inside the cave with more ease. During these visits, they discovered fossilized bones and teeth, which they later handed to the (then) Professor of Mineralogy and Petrology, Petros Kokkoros. 

In 1960, during an amateur exploration, six men discovered an excellently preserved skull, which was largely covered with stalagmite material. They detached it from the cave, without chronicling its location. It was soon found that the skull was of an early human form, making this discovery unique for the Greek anthropological data up to that time.

The discovery of the skull drew the attention of the scientific community. Professors of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki explored the cave and carried out paleontological excavations, which led to them documenting the presence of man and many animal species. More specifically, the exploration and mapping of the cave was carried out in 1962 by the Hellenic Speleological Society; it was led by Anna Petrochilos and John Ioannou. From 1968 onwards, excavations were carried out by the anthropologist Aris Poulianos. Findings from these projects are kept in the Geology-Paleontology Museum of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

The cave is open to visitors every day from 08:00 to 20:00.

The photo is from www.petralona-cave.gr