During the Roman times, Milos was a peaceful and the flourishing centre for commerce and the arts. The Roman Theatre made of marble was built during this period and at the same time Christianity reached the island and spread rapidly. During the 1st century AD the Milians chiselled these catacombs out of the living rock. They are claimed to be the only type of its kind in Greece and out of 75 similar catacombs, world wide they are said to rivals those of Paris and Rome. The entrance to the catacombs was destroyed in the 5th century BC, after a terrible earthquake, but it was accidentally rediscovered in 1840.

Description

From an inconspicuous entrance at the side of the road some steps lead to a maze of passage, some as narrow as 90 cm but on other place are 5 m wide. Height varies from 1.70 m to 2.50 m. Some 291 graves have been recorded making a total of 8000 bodies which have been buried in these tomb lined corridors stretching some 200 m into the soft volcanic rock.

Everybody who has studied these catacombs have came to the same conclusion that there is another section that is still unknown and undiscovered. Today only one part of one gallery is open to the visitors, which is known as "That of the Elders". Only the first 50 m are illuminated.

Text by Tony Oldham (2002). With kind permission.