Arkalospilio Cave at Marathos
Arkalospilio cave is located close to the village of Marathos, which is 13 km from Tylissos and 14 km from Gazi. The cave is situated at an altitude of 545 meters, after the large abandoned quarry, at Arkalokefalo. It remains largely unexplored and is said to cover much of the mountain to a large extent. The length of the corridors of the cave reaches 153 meters, while it has four large rooms and two smaller ones with excellent decoration. It is a living cave with a strong water drip. Roman, Byzantine and Medieval shells have been found inside the cave, confirming its use as a place of worship in antiquity. Also, during the period of the Ottoman rule, the cave served as a Christian refuge.
As researcher Eleftherios Platakis describes, the name of the cave and others with synthetic content from the fauna indicate the animals that either live in the surrounding area or take refuge in the cave. In this case, these are the urchins or badgers that are often found in Crete.