Necromanteion of Acheron

The Necromanteion stands on a low hill above the Acheron delta, where a lake, now drained, once made the site an island of reeds. Excavation in the 1960s revealed a walled complex of polygonal masonry with corridors, chambers and, beneath the central hall, a vaulted underground room reached by a stair. The excavator interpreted it as the oracle described by Herodotus, where pilgrims underwent days of darkness and a diet of beans and pork before being led through a labyrinth of doors to the subterranean chamber to meet the dead; iron parts found there were read as machinery for raising apparitions. Later scholars have argued the building is more likely a fortified farmhouse, and the debate continues, which makes the visit an exercise in weighing interpretations rather than accepting one.

History

The site at Mesopotamos in Epirus was proposed as the Necromanteion, the "oracle of the dead", in 1958, though the identification is now questioned. Herodotus tells how Periander, the 6th century BC tyrant of Corinth, sent envoys to the Necromanteion to question his dead wife Melissa, and in the Odyssey it is the entrance by which Odysseus went down to the underworld (Wikipedia, Necromanteion of Acheron).

What you'll find

• The underground chamber - a vaulted room beneath the main hall.
• The polygonal walls - massive masonry of the enclosure.
• The corridor system - the passages read as the oracle's labyrinth.
• The delta view - the Acheron plain and the sea from the hill.

When to go

Spring and autumn; the site is small, open and hot in midsummer. Combine it with the Acheron springs upstream or the beach at Ammoudia, ten minutes away.

Before you go

The site is compact and takes half an hour, with limited signage and no museum on site. The underground chamber is reached by a modern metal stair and is small. The interpretation is contested, so guides differ considerably in what they tell you.

Nearby

Ammoudia beach and the river mouth are minutes west; the Acheron springs lie upstream at Glyki.

Key facts