Greek Chamber

Over thirty years of excavation research, a monumental wall structure that closes the natural opening of a cave, and traces of worship that may date back to the Cretan-Mycenaean era — the Hellenic Chamber, near Agia Marina, is one of the most important archaeological sites in the entire Aegean, hidden at the end of a paved path.

The Hellinokamara cave is located southwest of Agia Marina and is approached via a gently ascending, stone-built path of approximately 300 meters in length. It has a large natural opening facing north, which in antiquity was blocked by a monumental wall structure — an indication that the space did not function simply as a natural cavity, but had been systematically organized and shaped. The archaeological site extends over three terraces, on which excavations have identified carvings in the natural rock, forming areas where clay was processed.

The dating of the original construction remains a subject of scholarly debate, with several researchers placing it in the Cretan-Mycenaean period. Kassiotis archaeologist Giannis G. Sakellarakis, in an article in the newspaper "O Kassiotis" in December 1985, argued that the cave must have been used mainly as a place of worship — an interpretation that is reinforced by the long period of its use, from the Mycenaean era to the Hellenistic period, as documented by the findings from successive excavations.

The history of the excavation

Systematic archaeological research at the Hellinokamara began in 1982, when the then Ephorate of Paleoanthropology and Speleology, responding to a request from the Municipality of Kasos, sent a geologist for a first autopsy. The main excavation works were carried out in the summers from 1986 to 1990, a period during which the architectural plans for the paved path and the viewing platform used by visitors today were also prepared. In 2007, the Ephorate of Paleoanthropology and Speleology of Southern Greece included the project in the European Interreg III program, in collaboration with a similar cave in Cyprus (Pitharkas cave), thus securing funding for both the excavation and the promotion and accessibility of the site. The Greek Chamber remains today one of the few places on Kasos where the visitor can see, literally, thousands of years of the island's history with one glance.