A labyrinthine world with royal shrines, golden statues, underground rivers and asclepias, ancient secret technology, pyramids older than those of Ancient Egypt, golden ships carrying dead kings, the tomb of King Minos, embalmed kings, buried inscriptions with instructions and commands for the people of the future, golden vines with all-gold fruit and objects made with unknown matter are some of the wonders that theories say lie in the depths of the caves in the Tsoutsouras area of Heraklion.
Manolis Kefalakis, a 15-year-old boy, in post-war Tsoutsouras, discovered a labyrinthine cave with rare treasures. For 15 years he sold many of the treasures, he was arrested for his antiquities action in 1962 and after his release, 3 years later, he went back and discovered the cave of Eileithyia in the center of the village. The cave was dedicated to the goddess Eileithyia, daughter of Zeus and Hera, protector of pregnant women, motherhood and newborns. Gold and silver objects, offerings to the Goddess, clay figurines and tiles, gold coins, utility and cult utensils were found in the cave. Kefalakis was re-imprisoned and large trucks arrived to load the finds. Some findings, it is said, were lost on the way, some disappeared on the way to the South and some made their way to the Heraklion Museum.
Some theories want the unknown material that the ship of the dead King Rodamanthys was made of, part of the otherworldly ancient technology, to be sold to the Americans in exchange for financing the construction of the Universities of Patras and Heraklion. The cave entrance was sealed with cement after the Americans visited the area. Are there representations of spaceships inside the cave? Some say that even the Israeli secret services have shown interest in the place. Erich Von Däniken, the famous researcher and patriarch of the theory of extraterrestrial visitation, while he visited the place and showed great interest, when he wrote his book 'The Name of Jupiter', he did not write a word about the mysterious village. Did some people forbid him to speak? Self-taught researchers believe in the existence of archaeological findings that, when they come to light, will be more important than... the Acropolis! Why does the name Tsoutsouras mean father and son of Ra?
Apart from these, the area of Tsoutsouras exudes a special energy and swimming in its waters is considered therapeutic and is highly recommended by doctors for orthopedic and musculoskeletal problems.
All this is strange and incomprehensible. It looks more like a science fiction scenario. Who can untangle the local stories, rumours, fictions, metaphysical issues and the real history of KeFalakiS? One thing is certain, all this sparks the imagination, the search for answers and the interpretation of events.
(more articles about Crete on www.gomega.gr)
