Necromanteion of Acheron

The Necromanteion (Oracle of the Dead) sits on the low hill of Ephyra, about a fifteen-minute drive inland from Ammoudia. The site, used from the Hellenistic period into Roman times, was where the living came to consult the dead — after fasting, drinking hallucinogenic concoctions, and being led blindfolded through narrow corridors before descending into an underground vault.

The stone foundations of the labyrinthine entrance corridors and the barrel-vaulted underground chamber survive. Entry is cheap and there are usually only a handful of visitors; the small site does not need more than an hour. Combine it with the Acheron boat trip for a half-day from Ammoudia.

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A story
When the archaeologist Sotirios Dakaris excavated the Necromanteion in the late 1950s and 1960s, he reported finding the remains of a wheeled bronze contraption that might have been used to lower 'spirits' into a darkened chamber to fool pilgrims. The interpretation is contested — some scholars now think the building is in fact a fortified farmhouse — but the underground vault is real and unforgettable.

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