Melissani Lake is an extremely rare geological phenomenon of incomparable beauty. The lake is located 20 meters lower than the surface of the soil, its depth ranges from 10 to 40 meters and its length is about 160 meters. In most of the cave, there are 200,000 years of stalactites, enhancing the magical and odorous atmosphere.

The Melissani Lake was discovered in 1951 by the speleologist Yiannis Petrohilos. It consists of two large halves with brackish water separated by a small islet in the centre. The roof of the first room has probably been precipitated by an earthquake leaving an opening of about 40 by 50 meters, which allows sunlight to enter the cave to create a colourful feast. The second room has a vaulted ceiling and many stalactites and stalagmites. In 1963, Austrian geologists dropped pigments in the Katavothres of Argostoli, which appeared in Melissani and Karavomylos Sami two weeks later, thus confirming the guess about the existence of underground canals.

There are different versions of the name of the lake. One example is that Nymph Melissani commited suicide there because thee love she had for Pan was unfulfilled as he didn’t love her, while the other is that a shepherd named Melissanthi was killed there while he was trying to catch a sheep. However, it is a fact that the cave in antiquity was a sanctuary of the Pan and the Nymphs, since the archaeologist S. Marinatos discovered religious objects (clay statue of the god Pan, a  disk with nymphs dancing, clay plate with nymph procession, small tile with embossed female figure). That is why another name of the grayling is Cave of the Nymphs.

The access to the cave is through an artificial underground tunnel and guided tours are by boats. Opening hours are 8: 30am-7pm daily from May to October and from 9am to 5pm during the winter months. The best time of day to visit is at midday as the sun’s rays fall vertically creating a unique atmosphere in the cave.