Kaiafas or the thermal springs of Kaiafas (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, Modern: Καϊάφας) is a spa in the municipality of

Zacharo Zacharo () is a town and municipality in western Peloponnese, Greece. Administratively, it belongs to the regional unit of Elis (regional unit), Elis in West Greece. Zacharo is situated on the coast of the Gulf of Kyparissia, a part of the Ionian S ...

in southwestern

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It is located SW of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, SE of Pyrgos, S of Olympia, nearly N of

Kyparissia Kyparissia () is a town and a former municipality in northwestern Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Trifylia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has ...

and some NW of

Kalamata Kalamata ( ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the Peloponnese (region), homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regiona ...

Healing and medical properties

The thermal springs of Kaiafas is a geological formation that consists of two springs located inside a naturally formed cave in the foot of the mountain

Lapithas Lapithas () is a mountain located in southern Elis in the western Peloponnese in Greece. The mountain is named after the mythical people, the Lapiths. In the west the mountain touches the Ionian Sea. It is 15 to 20 km long and 10 km wi ...

. The water comes out at a temperature of 32-34 °C of the spring contains an important concentration of

sulfur Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...

compounds, notably Magnesium Sulphate and Calcium Sulphate, and is also rich in minerals.Didaskalou, E. A., P. Nastos, and A. Matzarakis. "The development prospects of Greek health tourism and the role of the bioclimate regime of Greece." ''Advances in tourism climatology''. Ber. Meteorol. Inst. Univ. Freiburg 12 (2004): 149-157. It has been reputed since ancient times to have therapeutic properties, and it has indeed been medically attested to be of a curative character for musculoskeletal diseases and conditions. There is a spa facility exactly outside of the cave's mouth. Furthermore, the spring at the cave Gerani is also indicated for positherapy.

Natural location

The site of Kaiafas thermal springs is endowed with a beautiful natural environment, nowadays protected under the NATURA 2000 regime. A lake opens up at the mouth of the cave and the tourist facilities, notably the thermal hotel Olympia, is built on an islet within the Kaiafas Lake. Lapithas1

A zone of pine forest, in which the

Pinus halepensis ''Pinus halepensis'', commonly known as the Aleppo pine, also known as the Jerusalem pine, is a pine native to the Mediterranean region. It was officially named by the botanist Philip Miller in his 1768 book ''The Gardener's Dictionary''; he pro ...

pine species prevails, separates the lake from the sandy, 3.5 km long beach, which adds enormously to the touristic value of the site. Furthermore, the site is located to the south of Ilia prefecture, only 25 km from ancient Olympia, a major archaeological site of Greece and a World Heritage cultural property.

History and mythology

The river and cave area has been a tourist attraction for millennia, originally being the center of the myth of the Anigrides, to whom people would pray, and bathe in their waters in order to cure afflictions like

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

. As mentioned above, the springs were visited already in antiquity; however, we have no known mention of them in Byzantine times or in the Ottoman period. They were used again after the foundation of the Modern Greek State, whereas the first facilities were built in 1907, when the construction of a railway connecting the site to the city and port of

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

made it possible from people to visit from afar.Collective colume, Τα λουτρά της Ελλάδας: περιηγητικός οδηγός, Αθήνα 2012 Between 1960 and 1999 the premises were under the tutelage of the Hellenic Tourism Organisation; in 2000 they came under the Public Properties' Enterprise and in 2007-2008 they were refurbished to properly serve the standards of a modern clientel

Nearest places

(SE)

Historical population

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20041231011759/http://www.zacharo.gr/1/8544.html (in Greek) *http://www.thermalsprings.gr/index.php/en/component/content/article/84-thermal-springs-presentation/west-greece/154-kaiafa-en {{coord, 37, 31, N, 21, 36, E, region:GR_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Populated places in Elis Zacharo Spa towns in Greece