Chousti Cave

The cave of Chousti is an important archaeological site, which hides traces of primordial worship in Kythera. The cave is single-room with two levels and dimensions (35 x 20 meters). In the ancient carved entrance, with the steps leading to the mysterious cave, a shell fossil was carefully unearthed, which testifies to the connection of the cave with the cult of Aphrodite, which emerged like the island from the sea. Excavations of 1997-1999 revealed numerous finds of various eras, such as fragments of vessels and a baitylus, the oldest of which date back to 3,800 BC. The cave was a timeless place of worship, probably dedicated to Astarte of the Phoenicians and later to Aphrodite, with its aniconic form as it was worshiped in the early years in Kythera. Outside the cave, in a short distance to the north, there are signs of an open-air sanctuary. In this cave archaeologists discovered another very moving finding. It is a fragment of a ceramic tile which served as a writing notebook. It seems that the student dedicated it to the deity as a present, because he was taught the letters in this sacred space. This is another proof that the sanctuaries in antiquity were often used as schools. In the recent history of Greece, it is known that priests were very often the teachers of children in the province.