Agios Galas

 

The caves are part of an ancient underground riverbed which you can barely see from outside nowadays. It is a group of three caves, opened on top of each other. The upper one is the most unknown. The entrance of the middle one was converted to a church built inside the cave and is named “Panagia Agiogalousena“. The bottom cave, the biggest of all three, has been made accessible in a way so that visitors can tour through it. Over the last 150 million years, the rain has washed a cave system in the limestone. It is a long corridor, about 220 meters long, that forms meanders and large areas with labyrinthine chambers. Visitors can explore around 120 meters of the cave. When you look closely and let your mind wander, you can see sculptures of animals and other items. The humidity and dripping are very intense while the temperature varies between summer and winter around 10 and 15 degrees, so it is advisable to bring a sweater.

 

Agios Galas is a village in the northwest of Chios. It is located on the top of a hill 70 kilometers far from the main city of Chios. Because of its position in the mountains, Agios Galas was protected against pirate invasions. The village is named after the “milky water” (gala= Greek for milk) that comes out of stones in the cave complex underneath the village.

 

It is proved that people already lived in that region during the Neolithic period because archaeologists found tools, vase fragments, and bones.