The Perama Cave, on the northernmost tip of Lake Pamvotis in Ioannina, is the first cave to be exploited for tourism in Greece, and the most notable horizontal cave in the Balkans, comprising several chambers and labyrinthine passages with spectacular stalagmites and stalactites.
Situated near the town of Perama (which means 'passage) the Cave, Greece's largest and one of the largest in Europe as well, extends five kilometers below the ground, and is famous for its remarkable variety of stalagmites and stalactites.
The Cave is entered through small taverns, bringing the visitor to a huge main cavern containing every imaginable type of calcium rock formation.
The tour takes the visitor through a field of stalagmites in the main cavern, some over 7 meters tall, then down through twisting tunnels opening into more caverns, all of which have been impressively lit, containing more than 20 different types of rock formations.
Perama Cave, which dates back some 1.5 million years, was accidentally discovered in 1940 when local villagers were looking for shelter from bomb raids during WWII.
After the war, amateur speleologist Constantine Kasvikis and his team took photographs that were published in the local and Athens press, drawing the attention of speleologists Ioannis and Anna Petrocheilos, who began systematic exploration and charting of the Cave.
During their exploration, the Petrocheilos' found the bones and teeth of a family of cave-bears that lived there some 800,000 years ago, the first such discovery in Greece.
The Cave opened to the public in 1956.
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