CAVE DIAS

Nea Poli - Latsida - Lasithi - Cave Dias

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Nea Poli

Neapoli (also Neapolis) is a small town and a former municipality in Lasithi, eastern Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Agios Nikolaos, of which it is a municipal unit.
It is located 12 kilometres (7 miles) west from Agios Nikolaos in the green valley of Mirabello. In the period of the Venetian domination its two settlements were named "New Village". But when the seat of the Prefecture was transferred from Fourni to the “New Village” this was renamed to Neapolis. Neapolis was maintained as the capital of the prefecture of Lasithi till 1904.

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Annually on the 15th of August there is a holy festival dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The main square hosts musicians, traditional dancers, and a market. There are also some sports events including a cycling race around the hills of Lasithi. When it gets dark there is a procession of torches up the mountainside.

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There is a small museum of local history comprising mostly photographs and postcards of Neapolis.

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Cave Dias (Vreiko)

The cave of Vreiko is located about 2km north-east of the village. It is a cave and gulch and the known depth is 25-30 metres. The Entrance is an open and flat place that looks like a threshing floor. In the entrance there are stairs that make the entry and exit to the cave easier. A fig tree has grown at that place and its bouches cover a big gallery which is about 60-70 metres long. At the entry and the end of the gallery there are signs from the Neolithic Era.

South of the entrance is the gulch (Latsida) where there is water which dries up during autumn. At this part of the cave there metallic stands to assist people on their ways up and down. In every corner of the cave there are beautiful stalactites and stalagmites.

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It is in the impressive Dikteon Cave, rich in stalagmites and stalactites, that Zeus was born according to legend. This is why the Dikteon Cave was already famous in antiquity, dedicated to the worship of the greatest of the gods, as the many offerings found there indicate.

In our days the Dikteon Cave continues to receive many visitors, no longer worshippers, of course, but travellers from all over the world.

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