The cave was discovered by Philippos Hatzaridis on 10 May 1959 and became known for its paleontological and paleoanthropological findings already since 1960, after a resident of Petralona named Ch. Sarigiannidis discovered by luck inside the cave, the renowned fossilized human skull. The value of this finding and its uniqueness gave reason to a series of works inside and outside of the cave. The stony and bony findings are of great importance and consist the first proofs of residence in the Greek geographical space.

From an anthropological point of view, the fossilized skull (Petralona 1) is a finding of great importance and is thought to belong to a human who lived about 700.000 years ago. The Petralona 1 has the face of a Neanderthal but the skull of a more ancient type. Initially, the Petralona 1 was classified as Homo Neanderthalensis, but later was redefined as Homo erectus. Today though, most researchers agree that it belongs to the kind of fossils that were found in Atapuerka and other places in Europe, to Homo Heidelbergensis.

9:00 Departure from Thessaloniki 9:45 Arrival at Petralona 11:00 Departure from Petralona 11:45 Arrival at Thessaloniki

Duration: 3 hours Cost: 60 € Minivan: cost defined upon order/ availability