Sea cave

hese images were taken from the inside out of the sea cave. Koufonissia owes its name to such sea caves.

The sea caves of Koufonissiia partly determine the history and even the name of the islands. The name is directly linked to these landforms:

"Koufios" (κουφός): Means hollow or hollowed out in Greek.

"Nisia" (νησιά): Means islands.

Viewed from the sea, the dozens of hollows, tunnels, and interconnected caves gave sailors and pirates the impression that the islands were literally hollow inside.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, pirates frequently sailed the Aegean Sea. The caves played a strategic role in this. The deep inlets and underwater caves offered pirates an ideal place to hide small, maneuverable ships from Venetian and Ottoman patrols. Thanks to the narrow passages, they could wait unnoticed for a merchant ship to pass between Naxos and Amorgos. Tunnels opening onto hidden mini-beaches were perfect places to temporarily store supplies and loot.

For the local fishermen, the sheltered entrances to the caves provided a safe storage place for their small wooden boats (kaikis) during heavy summer storms and the powerful Meltemi winds.

During raids by pirates or enemy fleets, the islanders fled to the hard-to-reach rocky inlets. At the same time, a precarious alliance sometimes emerged: residents helped pirates in exchange for protection or a share of the trade.

The formation of these natural wonders is a textbook example of maritime erosion (coastal erosion): The seabed of Koufonissia consists largely of porous limestone and sedimentary layers. Powerful waves continuously pound against the coastline. Air in small rock cracks is compressed under high pressure by the pounding water, causing the rock to crumble from within. Sand, pebbles, and salt carried along by the sea abrade the rock walls like sandpaper. Over a period of thousands of years, tiny cracks wear away into deep passages. When the roof of such a passage collapses, impressive natural bridges, passages (such as Pisina), or "holes" are created where seawater flows in via an underground tunnel.

Pascal Brackman