Gourgouthakas ( el, Γουργούθακας; from "small cutting on rocks, in which rain water is collected and from which animals drink water") is a

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

located in the Lefka Ori mountains on the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

. It is the deepest cave in Greece, with an explored depth of , and is the 43rd deepest in the world. Gourgouthakas was discovered in 1990 by the Speleological Mission of the Catamaran team, based in Μontbeliard, France. In 1998, the same group reached the small lake (

sump A sump is a low space that collects often undesirable liquids such as water or chemicals. A sump can also be an infiltration basin used to manage surface runoff water and recharge underground aquifers. Sump can also refer to an area in a cave ...

) at the bottom, at a depth of . The lake has not yet been explored. The cave is primarily a deep vertical shaft, filled with intersecting arcades and huge stalagmites and stalactites. Due to its configuration, specialized equipment and expertise is required to explore it.

References

{{reflist Caves of Greece Landforms of Crete Tourist attractions in Crete Landforms of Chania (regional unit)

See also

References