Petralona
Petralona is a small village in Chalkidiki founded by the refugees of Asia Minor after 1922 and world known for its unique findings.
Its distance is 60km from Thessaloniki and is on the left hand side of the road from Thessaloniki towards Nea Moudania.
The road junction is just after, west of Eleohoria, which Petralona is 4km away from and 48km from Polygiro.
One of the sights in the area is the famous Cave of Petralona. Its importance became known after searches in the 60s
by the University of Thessaloniki. From the searches conducted it was discovered that in the cave man lived 700,000
years ago. From this era traces of fire were found lit by man for their needs. The most important finding is the human
skull found "wrapped" with stalagmite substance. It is believed that the human skull belonged to a woman aged approximately 25 years old,
old for that era. The skull shows important differences in shape and content of the cranial, in contrast to today's human skull.
Just as important is that some teeth were infected by "the disease of civilization", dental caries. Scientists haven't yet concluded
for when this lady lived of Petralona, but assume she is older than 250,000 years. This important finding gave science a new type of
ancient man, one who evolved from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens. The skull today can be found in the palaeontological collection
in the University of Thessaloniki.
Bones of animals that do not exist in Halkidiki were also found.
You can visit the cave, by an arranged route, it has electric lighting and guards. Each visitor can see chambers in which man
lived 700,000 years ago. Also interesting and impressive are the stalagmites in the cave. The chamber "Ton Rizon" is a chamber
where a magnificent net of thousands of thin roots of holm-oak cover the white stalactites giving them a totally unique and exotic look.
The exploration of the cave has yet to be completed and its length is estimated to be over 1,000 meters.
During summer, on the hills around the cave, theatrical performances takes place.