Franchthi Cave

Franchthi is one of the most important prehistoric sites in Europe because of an unusual continuity: excavations found human occupation running from around 38,000 BC through the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic to about 3,000 BC, a record of the same shelter used as ice ages came and went, as sea levels rose, and as hunting and gathering gave way to farming. The deposits contained obsidian from Melos, evidence of seafaring by the ninth millennium BC, along with deep-sea fish bones, early cultivated grain and one of the oldest burials in Greece. The cave itself is a wide mouth in a limestone headland on the bay of Koilada, reached by a path along the shore; the interior is protected and closed, but the setting and scale are the point.

What you actually see

• The cave mouth - a wide opening in the headland above the water.
• The bay of Koilada - the fishing harbour and boatyards across the water.
• The coastal path - a short walk along the rocks to the entrance.
• The excavation terraces - the shaped ground where digs took place.

When to go

Spring and autumn; the path is exposed and hot in summer. Morning light falls into the cave mouth. Swimming is possible from the rocks below in warm months.

Honest expectations

The cave interior is fenced off, so the visit is a walk to a viewpoint with no display, no guide and almost no signage. The significance is scientific and invisible on the ground. The path is rocky and unsuitable for wheelchairs.

Nearby

Koilada village and its boatyards are across the bay; Ermioni and Porto Heli lie south.