Agios Nikolaos Geopark

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Agios Nikolaos Geopark

In a large seaside area that extends from Agia Marina and Agios Nikolaos to the Voies plain and Elafonisos, lies a rare natural phenomenon, the only one of its kind throughout Europe. It is yet another rare miracle of the Laconian nature. The Agios Nikolaos Geopark belongs to the Atlas of the Aegean Geological Monuments and it is an extensive park with paleoflora fossils. Roots nodes, trunks, shells, mollusks and many other creatures, scattered in a rough and yet magnificent environment, were revealed in our time as “embalmed’’ witnesses of a nature, which was alive millions of years ago. 

The coasts of Agios Nikolaos, Agia Marina, Spitha and Voies represent the most interesting part of the forest. In Korakas village, visitors can admire the forest’s tallest two meter tree trunk, named “human” by the locals. Palm trees, conifers, and hardwood trunks (0.50cm to 1m diameter) were petrified due to various natural phenomena and they were recalcifiered by the rise of the sea level. The findings, unique in Europe, are priceless for scientific study.

The creation of petrified trunks followed the procedure of the main petrification, namely the replacement of the organic material, molecule after molecule, by dissolved minerals rich in calcite and pyrite; the morphological characteristics of the trees were conserved in very good condition.

The fossil forest is located a few kilometers after the village of Agios Nikolaos and extends to the coastal locations of Agia Marina, Korakas and Spitha. It is accessible via a 2km gravel road. Admission to the Geopark is free all year round.

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