SIGHTS

The picturesque village of Perama is graced with the hill of Goritsa. Inside this hill there is a three-storey “palace”, with incomparable beauties and decorations that is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the Balkans. 

It has 19 different kinds of stalactites and stalagmites while other caves have only 6-10. The cave of Perama in located at an altitude of 480 meters in the southern side of Goritsa and 10 meters above the surface of Lake Pamvotida.

According to the residents of Ioannina, the entrance of the cave was found before 1900, but the local commander Choliasis Efentis closed it around 1907 for safety reasons. The cave was forgotten until World War II when the residents of the nearby villages hid in Goritsa Hill to protect themselves from the bombarding.

The interior of the cave remained unknown due to the fear it caused as you had to crawl for 100 meters in order to reach the rooms that had a higher ceiling. After the war, in 1951, the geologist-speleologist Ioannis Petrohilos happened to go by when he learned about the existence of the cave. He went in and admired this astonishing creation of nature, the first in size and beauty that was ever found in Greece. The exploration went on during the period 1953-1956 and more rooms were discovered.

Majestic halls, extensive chambers and the rich and unprecedented decoration made reference to a luxurious palace where only chthonic gods could dwell. Therefore, the Cave of Perama was  dedicated to Pluto and Persephone.

The unknown cavern

Apart from the accessible parts of the cave there is an unexplored cave known as the "Unknown Cave". Wonderful natural formations of stalactites and stalagmites create an idyllic landscape of infinite beauty.