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The Cave of the Lakes with its 13 stepped lakes is located near the settlement of Kastria and is unique in its kind in the world. Internally, it consists of three sections and the length of the route is 2 km, of which only 500 meters are accessible. The 13 consecutive lakes are located at different altitudes and are separated by dripping dams. It is a rare creation of nature that gathers crowds of people every year. This point of interest is Mountainous and Rural. It is accessible all year round. It is not accessible through public transport. It has a fee or ticket. Everyday: 09:00-16:30.

Geology - Morphology

The provincial road Kalavryta - Kleitoria passes only a few meters away from the artificial entrance of the cave and right in front of the natural one.

The natural entrance is spacious (3.50 m high and 6.50 m wide) and impressive, so it should not have gone unnoticed by passers-by. To this element, if we add its orientation, we can easily conclude why, at least the first chamber, was used by man for such long periods of time, from prehistory to historical times.

"The Cave of the Lakes", as it is now called, impresses the reader even with its name.

For the viewer, the impression is stronger and more memorable. Lakes inside a cave are not something common, neither worldwide nor for the Greek area, where it is a unique geological phenomenon. Here the waters sometimes flood in the winter and remain stagnant in the other seasons, in the 13-tiered lakes. Relatively recent floods are mentioned, in the stories of the villagers, for 1922 and 1940, after torrential rains.

The cave, according to geologists, has been cut, partly, into the Cretaceous limestones of the Tripoli geotectonic unit and, partly, into the Neo-Cretaceous, thin-plate limestones of the Pindos unit. Its development has taken place along a fault, with a NW direction and its general morphology is similar, i.e., it has a proportionally very small width and a high roof height.

From a hydrological point of view, the cave can be divided into four sections, starting from the natural entrance, which is 83 m below the highest level of the cave.

The first section is dry, about 80 m long and its floor is horizontal, covered by a thick layer of red earth. This section, where the excavations took place, is interrupted by a small fault and does not communicate with the second one, due to the height difference. The second section is about 700 m long, with the main feature being the successive lakes, which were created on the floor due to the peculiar carbonate formations, which prevent the continuous flow of water. This section, which can be described as morphologically and hydrologically active, is characterized by rich litho decoration on the roof.

The third and longest section with a length exceeding one kilometer has intense precipitation, past and recent, which, according to scientific studies, isolated it hydrologically from the previous section of lakes but also from the next small, fourth section, in length 50 m., where we find again the basins with the water collection (gur). The water in the cave comes from intense trickling during heavy rains, but also partly from the sinkhole of Apanokampos, which is located higher and at a distance of 4 kilometers. However, during prehistoric times, it is very likely that the waters of the sinkhole, which fed the cave, changed direction seasonally, and thus explain the long periods during which the cave was almost dry.

The total length of the cave is about 2 km and its shape is serpentine.

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Source: Cave of the Lakes website - MUNICIPAL PUBLIC ENTERPRISE OF KALAVRYTA (discoverkalavrita.gr)

Link: youtube.com

Source Link:  kastriacave.gr