Apart of course from Meteora and the monasteries, not far from The Cave is the Museum of Modern Art, and just 4 kilometers away is the village of Theopetra with its neolithic cave and the bridge of Sarakina.
Some of the most interesting places :
- Lake Plastiras - The artificial lake high up in the Agrafa Mountains (western Thessaly)
- Aspropotamos - the region of beautiful forrests, the springs of the river Acheloos, the unique monastery Of The Holy Cross with the 12 dome roof in Doliana and the picturesque hamlet of Chalki
- Chasia - the monastery of Stagiades and the bridge of Psiras
- The Oracle of Dodoni
- Ioannina with the beautiful Perama Cave and the scenic lake
- The ancient stone bridges of Epirus, like the "Doliana Bridge"
Distances :
Kastraki - Kalampaka : 1 km
Kastraki - Trikala : 23 km
Kastraki - Pili : 40 km
Kastraki - Pertouli : 70 km
Kastraki - Delfi : 225 km
Kastraki - Patra : 320 km
Kastraki - Evzoni : 230 km
Kastraki - Igoumenitsa : 203 km
Kastraki - Metsovo : 90 km
Kastraki - Plastira Lake : 65 km
Kastraki - Athens : 355 km
Kastraki - Thessaloniki : 235 km
Kastraki - Ioannina : 125 km
The Cave of Theopetra :
Prehistoric cave of Theopetra will soon open to visitors
Work is to begin on making the cave of Theopetra in Thessaly (Greece) accessible to visitors. The cave is a unique prehistoric site that was continuously inhabited from the Middle Paleolithic (110000 BCE) to the Upper Paleolithic
period (3000 BCE).
One of the most striking discoveries of the 14-year excavation was four human footprints in a row, from four different individuals, probably children. Other finds include skeletons from 15000, 9000 and 8000 BCE, bone objects, stone tools, lumps of clay, traces of plants and seeds that reveal dietary habits, and evidence of the climate and the changes it underwent.
Evaluating the evidence, experts say that the climate of what is now Thessaly was warm in the Lower Paleolithic period compared with the ice ages of the Middle Paleolithic. Carbon dating showed that remains of fire found in the lowest anthropogenic strata were 46,330 years old.
The cave, which is being excavated by Ephor Nina Kyparissi, is the only one being explored in Thessaly and the only one in Greece with finds from the Middle Paleolithic Age up to 3000 BCE that are significant because they show the transition from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic way of life in the area.
Sources: Kathimerini (12 April 2005)
How to get there :
Theopetra is located 14 km North of Trikala and 4 km South of Kalampaka.
It is the huge crag to your right side when you drive from Trikala to Meteora (Kalampaka). The geographical coordinates are: 39° 40' 25" North, 21° 41' 1" East