Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Nekromanteio of AfyraΝεκρομαντείο της Αφύρας
The ancients feared it as the gate of Hades, god of the underworld; for visitors today the
Nekromanteio of Afyra
( 26840 41206; adult/child €2/free; 8.30am-3pm)
is just the
labyrinthine ruin at the end of a beautiful boat ride up the Aherondas River. However, at
time of research it was closed - to be fully reconstructed, in all its morbid glory - so
check locally.
The Nekromanteio was an oracle: ancient Greek pilgrims offered up milk, honey and
the blood of sacrificial animals, and the itinerant priests would duly arrange a conference
call with their dead ancestors. The ferrymen who transported pilgrims down the river
made an absolute killing and, so the legend goes, would throw the penniless overboard to
drown. The wily priests' intense show-ritual involved much mumbo-jumbo, hallucino-
genic substances, leading questions and lowering pilgrims into a dark, dank underground
vault for two days. No wonder, then, that it was like a religious experience when they
were blinded by sunlight from a hidden aperture during the dramatic finale.
This cottage industry flourished for centuries before dying out when Christianity be-
came prominent. However, the existence of a
graveyard
(located near the ruined Byzan-
tine
Monastery of Agios Ioannis Prodromos
) indicates that the site's macabre identity
outlived it.
Nekromanteio tours, sometimes packaged with other sites, cost about €40. Make sure
you confirm that the Nekromanteio has reopened before booking, or you may be taken to
a less interesting 'replacement' attraction instead. If you're driving, head south towards
Mesopotamo (19km), and take the Nekromanteio turn-off (1km before Mesopotamo).
