Kaiafas

This article is about the Thermal Springs. For the Cypriot footballer, see Sotiris Kaiafas.

The spa facility in Kaiafas

Kaiafas or Thermal Springs of Kaiafas (Greek, Modern: Καϊάφας) is a spa in the municipality of Zacharo in southwestern Greece. It is located 347 kilometres (216 miles) SW of Athens, 30 km (19 miles) SE of Pyrgos, 20 km (12 mi) S of Olympia, nearly 32 km (20 miles) N of Kyparissia and some 90 km (56 miles) NW of Kalamata.

The Thermal Springs of Kaiafas is a geological formation that consists of a spring where warm water comes from deep inside the Earth's crust and flows up to the surface. The spring is located inside a naturally formed cave in the foot of the Lapithas mountain. The water of the spring contains an important concentration of sulfur compounds and is also rich in minerals.[1]

It has been reputed since ancient times to have therapeutic properties,[2] and there is a spa facility exactly outside of the cave's mouth. 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.[3] In modern times it's visited by people who want to bathe in the thermal water of the spring for more general health reasons. The springs location is very close to the Kaiafas Lake and the sandy beaches of the Ionian sea coast.

Much of the area is covered with pine forests, in which the Pinus halepensis pine species prevail.

Nearest places

Historical population

Year Population
1991 35
2001 114

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ "Thermal Springs". Hellenic Association Of Municipalities With Thermal Springs. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  3. ↑ Lambrakis, Nicolaos; Katsanou, Konstantina (2014), "Geothermal fields and thermal waters of Greece: an overview", in Baba, Alper; Bundschuh, Jochen, Geothermal Systems and Energy Resources: Turkey and Greece, Sustainable Energy Developments, CRC Press, p. 25, ISBN 1138001090, retrieved 2015-12-21

External links

See also

Coordinates: 37°31′N 21°36′E / 37.517°N 21.600°E / 37.517; 21.600

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