Fragantonis Cave
The Cave of Fragantonis is located 700m south-southwest of Malia, at the foot of the mountain Volakias, at an altitude of 20m and below the new highway. The cave has two entrances. A low and another from its roof. The low faces north, with a width of about one meter but access from there is a bit difficult because of the rocks brought by the rainwater.
From the entrance a corridor of 2 meters is formed and on the right there is a crack, pitch-black from fire. If we creep downhill, there is an oval room white Cretaceous limestone with dimensions 16m x 10m. In the center there an impressive volume of stone material with bright natural decor, a kind of three storey column, 4m high, immediately attracts the eye.
The ground is strewn with dirt and gravel because the cave was used as shelter by soldiers in 1944. It contains animal bones and teeth, and pottery sherds of unknown age. Around the cave there are many pottery sherds and it might was used in Hellenistic and Roman Era. Nearby, east of the cave, there was a settlement of the Early Minoan era.
