Ιδαιον Αντρον

Idaion Antron - Idaio Andro - Idaion Andron - Idaian Cave

Useful Information

Location:	ΔΗΜΟΣ ΑΝΩΓΕΙΩΝ, Anogia 740 51. Mount Psiloritis, District of Rethymno. 24 km south of Anoghia and 78 km from Rethymno, on the upland plain of Nidas. (35.2082840, 24.8288981)
Open:	no restrictions. [2024]
Fee:	free. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave Greek mythology: Zeus Grown Up in a Cave
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	A=1,498 m asl, Ar=800 m².
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Jannis Sakellarakis (1988): The Idaean cave: Minoan and Greek worship In: Kernos. Volume 1, 1988, pp. 207–214. pdf DOI
Address:	Idaean Cave, Nida Ψυχρό, Tel: +30-28310-23653.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1885	cave excavated by the Italian archaeologist Federico Halbherr.
1982	cave excavated by Yannis Sakellarakis.
2012	stone staircase built.
2023	the cliff face above the entrance was secured and the cave closed.

Description

The name Ιδαιον Αντρον has numerous transliterations, Idaion Antron, Idaio Andro, and Idaion Andron. In English, it is either Idaian Cave or Ideon Cave. The most nonsensical version of the name is Cave Ideon Antron, because Antron is the greek word for cave, so it translates Cave Ida Cave. And that's not the end, the cave is also known as Σπηλιάρα της βοσκοπούλας (Spiliara tis Voskopoúlas, Cave of the Shepherdess). Locals simply call it Spilios (Cave). It is also called Arsenion or Arkesion Andron, the ancient Greek word “arkesis” means help, and refers to the worshippers who come to the cave to ask for the help of Zeus. This huge number of names makes it a little difficult to search for it with Google.

This cave is claiming to be the place where the mythos how the Greek Gods originated had actually happened. Yes, we know, myths tend to have not happened at all, but here is definitely the place where it not happened. The birthplace of gods, the place where Zeus, the father of Gods was raised. But, oh my, this is only one of two caves claiming to be this cave. The other cave is Showcave Diktaion Antron. The story about Zeus is told here: Book Zeus Grown Up in a Cave. This cave is also the place of a second story, where Zeus many years later met Europe.

Another legend is about Haridimos, the lord of Gortyn. According to the poem Erotokritos of the Greek poet Vitsentzos Kornaros, Haridimos accidentally killed his wife while hunting in Psiloritis. She was then buried in the cave. That's the origin of the name Cave of the Shepherdess.

Idaion Adron is named after the mountain where it is located, Idi or Ida Mountain (2,456 m asl), which is also known as Psiloritis, and which is the highest mountain on Crete. The cave was an important place of worship in both the Minoan and the Roman period, it was frequented from 4,000 BC to the 1st century AD. Excavation works in the interior of the cave revealed an abundance of important finds such as cult objects, statues, ceramics, gold jewellery, metal objects and, of course, the famous bronze shields. Many finds are on display in the Iraklio Archaeological Museum.

Due to its height, the cave entrance is blocked by snow during winter, and in some years as late as May. So the cave is accessible only during summer. The cave has a huge portal followed by a single chamber, which is quite spacious. The ground slopes down a little and is then flat, there is a stone staircase leading down and wooden platforms on the floor. There is even electric light, although this is not really necessary, the cave is well lit by daylight from the entrance. The cave has no speleothems at all, which is a result of frost erosion. The entrance is not only wide open to the cold winter air, it's also a cold trap. There is no time for speleothem to grow before they are destroyed by frost. The gravel square in front of the cave portal has narrow gauge railroad tracks, and an inclined lift next to the staircase down to the floor of the entrance chamber. These seem to be remains from the last archaeological excavation. All in all, the cave has a spectacular size, but only a single huge chamber devoid of speleothems, which is the reason why the Diktaion Antron is visited by most tourists. Even the English Wikipedia page for Idaio Andro redirects to Diktaion Antron, which causes a lot of nonsense written by English-speaking visitors.

The cave is rather difficult to reach, so many people visit it as part of a guided daytrip, which is offered at the hotel. If you want to go there by car, it's at least 1.5-hour drive on narrow winding roads through the mountains. There are no villages, only hamlets, and probably no signs most of the time. The road ends right below the cave entrance at the Nida Lodge, which offers food and drink, and during high season there may be mules to ride to the cave entrance. The Nida Lodge was named after the Nida Plateau, a grassy plain right below, which is actually not a plateau, it's a polje. From here it's a 1.6 km/30 minutes hike on a single-lane gravel road to the cave entrance, which is an ascent of 110 m.

In the last years the cave was modernized in several ways, the new stone staircase, electric light, and the cliff above the portal was stabilized. Nevertheless, the cave is not a show cave, there are no open hours, no access restrictions and no guides. We guess the light is only for events, probably it's possible to activate it with some money. However, it's definitely not necessary. But as the cave was closed for several months in 2023 for such works, we recommend checking if it is open at the next tourist info before you drive there and find it closed.