Kos White Stone Cave

Location: Kefalos

Kos White Stone Cave ("Aspri Petra" Cave): Tourists spending their holidays in Kefalos are usually surprised by the multiplicity of sights, the isolated beaches, and wild places like the Cave of Aspri Petra (White Stone). Among the traditional sights in the area near Kefalos, such as the old chapels on Mount Dikaios, or the castle ruins at old Pyli, the Aspri Petra Cave (or Cave of White Stone) is really outstanding for its natural beauty. Located beyond Palatia area towards Zini, these caves have a historical relevance as their exploration by expert speleologists brought to light to a number of findings dating from the Neolithic Age and beyond.

The prehistoric findings proved that Kos has been inhabited since the Bronze Era, between the years 2900 and 2100 BC. However, speleologists opinions differ regarding its formation process. Some experts state that the corrosive activity of streams was responsible for enlarging their channels and that process may have taken a fundamental role in cave formation, as water, sand, and pebbles can be very erosive with the passing of time. Although the theory may sound reasonable, some other experts claim that it is difficult to understand how that corrosive process would start an initial point or passage where it was not previously present in the rock itself.

These white stones are usually made of granite and have been rather appreciated along times for a variety of reasons. In ancient times, a white stone would serve for monumental purposes or as an admission token or ticket to public shows. The fact that the Aspri Petra Cave near Kefalos is, in a way, hidden from the general public sight, served as a natural way of preservation, as it is possible that the sight could have run out of the white stone if it had been used as a source of gravel or for covering building facades.

The initial excavations of the place were under the supervision of Alessandro Della Sefa in 1922, who was the Director of the Italian Archaeological School in Athens. He came to the conclusion that Aspri Petra Cave was one of the most important excavations in connection with Prehistoric times. The findings placed the cave close to the period ranging from the Neolithic Age and the very beginning of the Bronze Era, about the year 3000 BC.

The importance of the place goes beyond the Prehistoric Age, as it also provided with human evidence of later periods. That is the reason why the Cave of White Stone is considered as one of the oldest archaeological monuments on Kos. A number of pots made of clay were found, which confirmed the worship of the gods that continued until the end of the Roman Empire.