The Lure of the Pan Cave

Sunday, 14th October 2018 - 8.30 am. After the previous long day in the Argolis region and a short night sleep I was packed and ready to travel to the Parnassus mountains for 3 days. I checked out of the beautiful Crystal City Hotel in Athens and met my driver, Spyros, in the lobby. On the road to Delphi we discussed all things connected to facilitating groups in Greece and organizing the perfect itinerary and daily schedules for my ‘Greece Experience’ tour 2019. We timed the journey, found the best place to stop for good coffee in the middle of the cotton fields and arrived in Arachova just after 10.30, realizing it takes between 2.5 and 3 hours - depending on the length of the coffee stop - when coming over with a tour bus from Athens. What a beautiful drive, though, especially when you get closer to the mountains.

My hotel, however, was not in the mountain village of Arachova, but in Delphi, simply because I would stay there for 3 days without a car and needed to be able to walk to the sites. Spyros delivered me and my luggage to the lobby of the Acropole hotel, which was situated on the edge of the ridge overlooking the sacred olive groves - the largest in Europe. The olive tree is sacred to the goddess Athena. In the distance I could see the Bay of Corinth and I fell in love with the view. I took some photos of the room and the view and rested for a while, eating a few nutritious seed-fruit-nut bars on the balcony and drinking some water. I knew I’d not be having a normal lunch again today.

At 1 pm I was collected by Eleni from Trekking Hellas. I had booked a hike to the enigmatic Pan Cave (Corycian Cave), situated on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, home to the Dionysian Mysteries. How I have been looking forward to this day! For some reason, this sacred cave has lured me for months. I knew it was a 5 hour hike up from Delphi, but I found a way to reduce the hike to just 1 hour, which made it much more doable, and not just for me.
Eleni is one of the sweetest people I know. She is very well organized, anticipating the weather, bringing hiking sticks, a sweater/jacket in case it would be cold, and more surprises! Home baked healthy cookies to keep the energy up, and extra water in case I’d need it.

It was quite a drive from Delphi, passing Arachova and going higher and higher up into the mountains. The views were breath-taking, but the temperature went down to a freezing 7 degrees Celsius! It was mid-October and I should have anticipated it, but I was certainly not dressed for it. She parked the 4x4 on the side of the trail. Just before we started the hike I felt the cold wind and a few tiny drops of rain on my nose and cheeks, so I decided there and then to accept her kind offer to wear the jacket she had brought. Munching on the delicious home-baked cookies (I didn’t care that they were not gluten-free - it was food) we started to walk up the mountain and I felt how I was warming up inside as well, filling up with deep gratitude for always and always meeting the right people on the right moment.

At that moment I realized all too well that I had created a killer itinerary for myself, but somehow my legs kept going, albeit not too fast. Therefore it became a slow hike and a fantastic exercise for my tour, knowing there are always people who cannot walk too fast, so when we clocked the hike up to the cave at about 1 hour and 10 minutes in total, it was certainly realistic. Going down was much faster (easy descend for ca. 50 minutes). Not that the slope is steep; it flows gently and the path itself is wide. At the end of the hike is the reward; amazing views over the valley, the mountains and the Sea of Corinth! Unfortunately I wasn't very lucky with the weather that day. Just around the corner of where I am standing here in the photo is the famous Pan Cave, sacred to the Corycian Nymphs and the Muses, and a place of worship for Pan. Like the caves in Occitania, France, it was also a place of refuge; from ancient times during the wars with the Persians to World War II.

It was an amazing site; tangibly sacred, with ancient Greek writings in the rock at the entrance. A specific crack in an ancient stalagmite was the place where people left votive gifts in ancient times. Many people brought music, songs or poems as their votive gift. According to the story, the god Pan had left a hoof print behind on a rock at the entrance, and with a little imagination you could actually see the hoof print, just like you can see faces, animals or shapes in the rocks or rock walls. We went further into the cave and looked back towards the entrance. We were not alone; Eleni’s hairdresser and his friend were also there, coincidentally, and his silhouette would make this photo below even more beautiful. What an amazing site! When I was almost alone, with Eleni sitting on the edge of the cave, I quietly sang the Abwoon into the silence; my votive gift.

During our French ‘Cathar Country Experience’ tour last September, one of our guests from the States, Joy, asked me to pick a stone from her collection - pebbles she had painted herself - to leave at a place of my choice. I thought about the Pan Cave and wondered which one to choose. To my great surprise, one of the stones she put to my attention was a pebble with the painting of a black swan. The swan is one of the symbols of Apollo, and because Apollo is connected to Delphi it was the perfect stone to pick! So I brought it to the cave and left it at the entrance, ready to be picked up by someone new to go on a whole new adventure. :)

Pan and Syrinx by Nicolas Poussin

Pan (Πάν) is the god of rustic landscapes and wild nature; especially of shepherds, who roamed the mountainous landscapes with their flocks. As a result, he also became the god of rustic music and improvised music (impromptus), composed on the spot and inspired by the moment. The instrument was usually the so called Pan flute. In myth, Pan was the companion of the nymphs, continuously chasing them and courting them. The word panic was derived from the god's name, because whenever he was in the woods, the nymphs fled into all directions in shear ‘panic’.
In western literature you have elves and fairies in folklore, in Greece you have the nymphs and other spirits of nature, like fauns and satyrs. Pan was given the image of half man half goat, with the hindquarters, legs and horns of a goat. Pan was especially worshiped in Arcadia, a region on the Peloponnesus peninsula. The deity is also connected to fertility and the season of Spring (the word ‘horny’ may have come from the horned god’s urge to impregnate).

More stories about Pan and the Corycian will of course be told on the ‘Greece Experience’ tour when we visit the Pan Cave.

It is literally written in stone; this ancient Greek text explains that the cave is dedicated to the god Pan.

After the hike down, Eleni and I arrived at the car and to my great joy she produced a wonderful Greek salad; homemade bread, home-grown tomatoes and sweet onions, feta cheese and olives, also homemade! It was an amazing meal and very satisfying, so I skipped dinner that night and went to bed early. What a day! I would like to thank from the heart Eleni of Trekking Hellas for her knowledge, kindness & patience, and for being such a wonderful guide and person! I cannot wait to see her again in May 2019 when we will do this hike with my group. I recommend her and her company to anyone who would like to do hiking trips from Delphi and Arachova or the Chrissa Plain.

Next time: Delphi; my visit with private guide to the archaeological site and an unexpected meeting... ;-)

Hope to see you again next Friday! Have a wonderful weekend! XOX