Antiparos, one of the Cyclades, is situated in the Egean sea, or Grecian
archipelago. It is a small island, about sixteen miles in circumference,
and lies two miles to the west of the celebrated Paros, from which
circumstance it derives its name, _anti_ in the Greek language
signifying _opposite to_. Its singular and most interesting grotto,
though so inferior in size to the cavern in Kentucky of which we shall
soon speak, has attracted the attention of an infinite number of
travelers. The entrance to this superb grotto is on the side of a rock,
and is a large arch, formed of craggy stones, overhung with brambles and
creeping plants, which bestow on it a gloominess at once awful and
agreeable. Having proceeded about thirty paces within it, the traveler
enters a low, narrow alley, surrounded on every side by stones, which,
by the light of torches, glitter like diamonds; the whole being covered
and lined throughout with small crystals, which give by their different
reflections, a variety of colors. At the end of this alley or passage,
having a rope tied round his waist, he is led to the brink of an awful
precipice, and is thence lowered into a deep abyss, the gloom pervading
which makes him regret the “alley of diamonds” he has just quitted. He
has not yet, however, reached the grotto, but is led forward about forty
paces, beneath a roof of rugged rocks, amid a scene of terrible
darkness, and at a vast depth from the surface of the earth, to the
brink of another precipice, much deeper and more awful than the former.
Having descended this precipice, which is not accomplished without
considerable difficulty, the traveler enters a passage, the grandeur and
beauty of which can be but imperfectly described. It is one hundred and
twenty feet in length, about nine feet high, and in width seven, with a
bottom of a fine green glossy marble. The walls and arched roof are as
smooth and polished as if they had been wrought by art, and are composed
of a fine glittering red and white granite, supported at intervals by
columns of a deep blood-red shining porphyry, which, by the reflection
of the lights, presents an appearance inconceivably grand. At the
extremity of this passage is a sloping wall, formed of a single mass of
purple marble, studded with sprigs of rock crystal, which, from the glow
of the purple behind, appear like a continued range of amethysts.
Another slanting passage, filled with petrifactions, representing the
figures of snakes and other animals, and having toward its extremity two
pillars of beautiful yellow marble, which seem to support the roof,
leads to the last precipice, which is descended by means of a ladder.
The traveler, who has descended to the depth of nearly fifteen hundred
feet beneath the surface, now enters the magnificent grotto, to procure
a sight of which he has endured so much fatigue. It is in width three
hundred and sixty feet; in length three hundred and forty; and in most
places one hundred and eighty in hight. By the aid of torch-light, he
finds himself beneath an immense and finely vaulted arch, overspread
with icicles of white shining marble, many of them ten feet in length,
and of a proportionate thickness. Among these are suspended a thousand
festoons of leaves and flowers, of the same substance, but so glittering
as to dazzle the sight. The sides are planted with petrifactions, also
of white marble, representing trees; these rise in rows one above the
other, and often inclose the points of the icicles. From them also hang
festoons, tied as it were one to another, in great abundance; and in
some places rivers of marble seem to wind through them. In short, these
petrifactions, the result of the dripping of water for a long series of
ages, nicely resemble trees and brooks turned to marble. The floor is
paved with crystals of different colors, such as red, blue, green and
yellow, projecting from it, and rendering it rugged and uneven. These
are again interspersed with icicles of white marble, which have
apparently fallen from the roof, and are there fixed. To these the
guides fasten their torches; and the glare of splendor and beauty which
results from such an illumination, may be better conceived than
described.
To the above description we subjoin an extract from the one given by Dr.
Clarke, a learned traveler, who visited this celebrated grotto.
“The mode of descent is by ropes, which, on the different declivities,
are either held by the guides, or are joined to a cable which is
fastened at the entrance around a stalactite pillar. In this manner, we
were conducted, first down one declivity, and then down another, until
we entered the spacious chambers of this truly enchanted grotto. The
roof, the floor, the sides, of a whole series of magnificent caverns,
were entirely invested with a dazzling incrustation as white as snow.
Columns, some of which were five and twenty feet in length, pended in
fine icicle forms above our heads: fortunately some of them are so far
above the reach of the numerous travelers, who during many ages, have
visited this place, that no one has been able to injure or remove them.
Others extended from the roof to the floor, with diameters equal to that
of the mast of a first-rate ship of the line. The incrustations of the
floor, caused by falling drops from the stalactites above, had grown up
into dendritic and vegetable forms, which first suggested to Tournefort
the strange notion of his having here discovered the vegetation of
stones. Vegetation itself has been considered as a species of
crystallization; and as the process of crystallization is so
surprisingly manifested by several phenomena in this grotto, some
analogy may perhaps be allowed to exist between the plant and the stone;
but it can not be said, that a principle of life existing in the former
has been imparted to the latter. The last chamber into which we
descended surprised us more by the grandeur of its exhibition than any
other. Probably there are many other chambers below this, yet
unexplored, for no attempt has been made to penetrate further: and, if
this be true, the new caverns, when opened, would appear in perfect
splendor, unsullied, in any part of them, by the smoke of torches, or by
the hands of intruders.”