Koutouki is the largest known and one of the most beautiful caves in the Attica Prefecture. It is situated at the eastern slope of Mount Hymettos, 510 m above sea level, in the outskirts of the Municipality of Paiania. It was discovered in 1926 after the accidental fall of a goat down through its natural entrance. It was officially visited on 2/2/1928 by the journalist D. Chatzopoulos helped by a group of inhabitants, who published a description of the cave in the magazine Ellinikos Tachydromos (10/2/1928).
Its mapping was carried out in 1954 by I. and A. Petrochilos of the Hellenic Speleological Society. Due to its natural beauty, the cave became a tourist site. Its development began during the early Sixties by the Hellenic Tourist Organization. In 2000 the management of the cave was handed over to the Ephorate of Paleoanthropology - Speleology of Southern Greece (Hellenic Ministry of Culture). Geology - Geomorphology The cave has been formed within the beds of metamorphic limestone of Mount Hymettos.
The surrounding bedrock belongs to the series of the Lower Marble and covers the greatest part of the eastern sides of Mount Hymettos. As it is the case with most of the caves around the world (more than 95%), the Koutouki Cave owes its creation to the carst phenomenon –the process of chemical deposition of calcium carbonate dissolved in water, when the latter contains carbon dioxide (CO2 ) –, although its final form was affected by tectonic activity. According to the existing evidence, the cave had initially no entrance. A great vertical diaclasis – a crack in the bedrock which is caused by tectonic movement – helped create the natural entrance on the cave’s roof 38.5 m high. Koutouki consists of a single chamber measuring about 60X60 m, which has been fragmented into smaller ones by stalactite/stalagmite walls developed along the diaclases of the bedrock. The cave floor is uneven due to past rock collapses which were subsequently covered with calcite deposits, stalagmites and columns. The cave roof is very rich in speleothems, mainly stalactites, and it is inclined, following the direction of the limestone beds. The rich rock decoration of stalactites and stalagmites and the unusual coloring of various speleothems – due to the action of certain oxides, creates a magic scenery and has inspired the romantic naming of some of the rock formations: Olympic Torch, Altars, Corals, Harmonium, Red Waterfall, etc. Today a 17 m long artificial tunnel made for the visitors’ convenience leads into the cave, and the tourist route is about 350 m. The annual mean temperature is 17ο C and humidity is 90%. Fauna in the cave is very poor. There is no indication of bats, since the cave is being visited year round, and the presence of visitors along with the continuous use of light, create an unfriendly environment. Only an extremely small number of dolichopoda and myriopoda have been noted in the cave.

Συντάκτης : Λίνα Κορμαζοπούλου, αρχαιολόγος, Αλεξάνδρα Οικονόμου, βιολόγος & Βασίλης Γιαννόπουλος, γεωλόγος

http://odysseus.culture.gr/
016_SPHLAIO_KOYTOYKI_PAIANIAS PDF (www.odap.gr) 2019