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paulbZ394YH
One of the more accessible caves on crete , it has a well made if a little track way leading to its enterance, which has three openings to a quit extensive cave system with many chambers so smaller ones complete with bats. the history of this place is quite sad as it is were hundreds of inhabitants were massacred by the otterman forces, After invading many of local inhabitants fled to the cave to hide from Hassan Pasha's troops, who were approaching on a bloody war path, ruthlessly destroying villages and slaughtering their inhabitants. Upon discovering where the villagers were hiding, Pasha sent 5,000 troops to surround the cave. The 150 armed men, as well as Cretan rebel soldiers from surrounding villages, valiantly fought to defend the villagers and successfully held back Pasha's men for nearly two weeks. However, the lack of food and water was taking its toll, and many people died. Starvation forced the villagers to attempt a escape. Unarmed and weak, they stood no chance against Pasha's troops, and were brutally massacred. Many slaughtered or trampled to death as they attempted to flee from the cave. Those who were captured were later beheaded or burned to death. According to some sources, some of the captured women and children were sold into slavery. There now is a shrine just inside to mark this tragic event complete with bones collected after the event from the valley floor. It was also used by partisans during WW2 according to a very old local man we later met in a taverna. well worth a visit hope the extra info helps as there is no information at the site for the visitor
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Sleepyduck7
Having spent numerous holidays in Greece, basically not moving from the beach, I was in awe! Spent a week early October exploring caves, waterfalls and beautiful traditional villages in the mountains. Milatos cave must be my favourite one. After having a meal in a family tavern in nearby Kounali (a must go!) we left the car on road and walked to the cave. We were the only people there (visited early October) which was wonderful. The path leading to the cave is cute, the views amazing and all you can hear are goats’ bells. The cave is wonderfully spooky with a chapel at the end. It is not very high but it makes the whole experience exciting. A must go!
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andyw51
A nice ex pat english couple rent out torches to see the cave. Some degree of agility needed to get the best out of the cave. 5K from the Minos Imperial. Lovely drive by quad bike
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hemitage
Travelled by car, can be walked to from Milatos if its cloudy!!! The path to the cave from the road is a little lumpy the cave is very dark and quite deep, a torch is definitely needed, inside the cave the floor is very uneven with some rather large hollows, small chapel in there too. Weve been nothing to write home about!!!!
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Onion11
Stunning views of the surrounding area, and very interesting to see the small church in the inside, to which the locals make an annual pilgrimage. Call in to Kohili in Milatos before or after to hear all the history from Eleni!
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brilliantcreature
it's really fun. First you won't find it in usual tourist guide. Second it looks abandoned, nobody looks after this, no light inside, no guard, nobody at all. Flashlight will be helpful if you want explore the cave. Little chapel inside. You might even find it adventurous.
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315deborahk
I can't emphasise enough the need for a torch (my phone flashlight was invaluable). It is very low inside so great care needs to be taken. Once inside, it's very eerie and atmospheric. You can't go too far in but if you stop to think about it's history, it's worth the long, hot walk up.
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tomaszw409
Good place to visit. It has great views, almost no other tourists (after I while my family got tired with crowds usual to Crete). It might be nothing big, it has no electricity so you should bring your own source of light, but it is charming and is a historical place. You should not think it's a spectacular natural cave - I've seen way better and bigger. It's more of a christian worship place in a charming setting. Big + from me, my wife, and my 2,5 yr old kid enjoying the walk, the view, and the little cave itself ;-)I've seen some disabled people trying to get into the cave. Not sure how it ended for the person, but you need to crouch in order to get to the church/chapel itself so I would imagine a person with waling difficulties might miss the entire point of the trip.
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704christinet
Very good experience long uneven path leading to cave, as we walked there would have liked some info at the point of entry as we never had any in our hotel as the history is fascinating
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respond999Shropshire
Make sure you have lots of sun cream on as you will be walking across a path to get to the caves. Once inside you will need a torch from our mobile phone. There is a church in the caves with bones inside from the people who suffered.