The labyrinth (area 3)
Because of its winding form, pilgrims who walked through it would lose their bearings and get a real feeling of being in the Hades antechamber (see the legend of the labyrinth).
The labyrinth had three arched doors with large iron nails which were found during the excavation. The second and, above all, the third, of the three doors, is well preserved. Pilgrims used to offer barley meal (ancient  ) inside the labyrinth because a lot of fragments of large mouth vessels, mainly dishes suitable to contain solid offers, and clay lamps, dated between 3-rd and 2-nd century b.C., have been found on the floor .

 
 




























The labyrinth of the Nekromanteion (white background in the map) stretches east to west and is characterized  by the presence of an access door on the eastern side, by an intermediate one in the middle, and by a last one, on the northern side,  providing access to the sacred area.


 
 




















The photo "A" shows: in the foreground, the wall delimiting the labyrinth on the eastern side; in the background, the arch of the intermediate door which originally was ironbound, as it results from the large iron nails recovered during the excavation.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The labyrinth of the Nekromanteion
(area 3)

The planimetry in the left panel (l.p.) of the screen is 90° clockwise rotated with respect to the natural orientation top=North. That was done in order to give a prompt idea of how the area 3 appears to the visitor who enters the labyrinth.
Clicking on the "anchor icones" in the l.p. it is possible, by means of the photos "A", "B",  "C", to explore the labyrinth under the visual angles suggested by the icones themselves.
Clicking inside the winding passage area of the the labyrinth in the l.p. it is possible to get information on the rest of area 3 and on the myth of the labyrinth.
Warning!! Working at full screen is recommended, as the left panel is blocked.
To continue the visit and pass to area "4", you are requested to click on the link "Go on", on the top of the planimetry in the l.p. .


 
 





































Photo from publication in reference 1 of bibliography
The photo "B", taken from the top, shows, in the foreground, the terminal part of the labyrinth and, on the left, the access door to the sacred area of the Nekromanteion; in the background it is possible to observe an intermediate door, already described in the photo "A". In the top left it is possible to observe the thickness of the external walls.


 
 




















































Photo from publication in reference 1 of bibliography
The photo "C" shows the arched door through which one joins the sacred area of the Nekromanteion. The iron door presently installed is only an imitation of the one that in ancient times barred the access to the sacred area.