Diros Cave: a natural marvel in the Peloponnese, Greece

The Mani Peninsula is the stark and rocky protrusion of Mount Taigetos that forms the middle one of the Peloponnese's three southern 'fingers' in southern Greece. It is a place of great character, distinguished by rocks, rocks in the landscape, rocks as the building material of the area's characteristic stone tower houses, and rocks as the material that defines caves.

During our trip into the Mani on our Peloponnese tour, we see some mysterious places: the ancient temple of Poseidon and the shrine to Hades, believed in antiquity to be an entrance to the Underworld, located close to one another near the southern Cape of the peninsula, are certainly strange and evocative, although we know little about them.

One of the most striking visits is to the cave at Diros, one of Europe's finest caves. As it is located just above and below the current sea level, much of the cave is flooded, leaving only two metres or less of above-water clearance in places, but opening up into great halls here and there. The cave was discovered in the late 19th century and has been visitable for non-specialised travellers for four decades now. It is simply spectacular. The boat trip inside the cave, the only way to visit it, takes quite a while and covers 1,200 metres (4,000 ft), followed by a walk in the part of the cave that is above the water table. The whole cave system is much larger, currently 15km (9.3 mi) are known, and exploration is continuing.

The visit is a magical experience. It is a long and slow boat ride, propelled by the hands of a local, leading from one cavernous chamber to another, all of them sporting stalagmites, stalactites and 'draperies' of various ages and colours. The cave system is between two and three million years in the making, so we should consider the visit a deep insight into the slowest processes that add remarkable beauty to our world.

From an archaeologist's point of view, Diros Cave is a sample only. Mani has many caves, and some have been found to contain evidence of human activity from very long ago. At Diros itself, there is Alepotrypa, literally the fox-hole, a cave with important evidence of Neolithic burials, accompanied by wonderful pottery and other artefacts, including some of the earliest use of metal (gold, actually!) in the region. Elsewhere nearby, there are caves containing material from much earlier times, including the presence of Neanderthal humans up to 100,00 years ago!

To visit and explore the Diros cave with expert guides, join our amazing Exploring the Peloponnese tour.