Kapsia Cave

You might not have heard of the Kapsia cave, but it really is worth a visit. It’s a beautiful cave and there’s a great tour included in the ticket. Experts say it is one of the ten most interesting caves in Greece -why not go and see what you think?

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You might not have heard of the Kapsia cave, but it really is worth a visit. It’s a beautiful cave which is suitable for families with children and there’s a great tour included in the ticket. Experts say it is one of the ten most interesting caves in Greece -why not go and see what you think?

First of all you go down through labyrinthine corridors until you get to the two main chambers – “the chamber of wonders” and “the chamber of bones”. They have both got excellent lighting which highlights the stalactite and stalagmite formations and the shapes, colours and patterns that they make. The “chamber of bones” got its name as 50 human skeletons of men and women, as well as an infant, were discovered there. It was originally thought that they had died during a flood, but this now seems not to be true. Systematic study of the bones led experts to conclude that the cave was probably used as a burial place and somewhere were the bones of the dead were kept. These bones were originally placed in various places, mainly recesses, as part of a ritual, and were later washed away during floods. We also know that people lived in the cave at times in the Neolithic era (4th millennium BC), in the Hellenistic era (330-146 BC) and in the period between the 4th - 6th century.

The cave was first investigated in 1887 by the French archaeologist Gustavo Fouser and odysseus-culture.gr (the official website of the Greek Ministry of Culture) tells us that it is part of a system of sinkholes that drained the Mantineia basin. In fact, there are three sink holes in front of the entrance which are protected by a 19th century stone barrier. When the sinkholes became blocked, the cave flooded - as is evidenced by the marks on the cave walls made by an ancient flood. 

Coming right up to day, in 2020 members of the Speleology Group of Argolis and Corinth and the SPI.NA (Speleology of Nafplion) discovered that the Kapsia cave with  is connected to the Toussi Cave.

Virtual tour

Did you know that

The cave is 1.5 km from the village of Kapsia, 15 km from Tripoli and 15 km from the ski resort of Mainalo.

Visiting hours: Monday to Saturday 09.00-15.00, Sunday 09.00-16.00. The guided tour lasts about 25 minutes.

Location

Find the destination on the interactive map below.