At the ruins of the old church steeple, in the villages of Markopoulo and Arginia, the miraculous snakes of Virgin Mary start appearing on August 6th. They remain at the church area until the night of August 15th when they disappear. The snakes are completely harmless for visitors. A cross on the head is their characteristic feature. A rather peculiar detail is that they never appear on any other period than between August 6-15th. According to legend, in the 16th century, during a raid from the Pirate Barbarossa, the nuns at the Convent prayed to the Virgin Mary to save them. They were transformed into snakes. Interestingly enough, there were only two times in history that the snakes did not appear: during the German occupation and in 1953, the year of the disastrous earthquake.
For a number of years, the geological phenomenon of the Catavothres had been the subject of extensive scientific research, since it clearly contradicted the laws of physics. The Catavothres are sea side crevices of 3 m. deep, whose bottom is rock sculpted. The seawater enters the breaches and disappears, a fact that made scientists try for several years to discover its course and destination, by pouring dye in the water. It was finally proven that after a few days the water ends up in Melissani Lake of at the other side of the island (24 km away).
In 1962 the forest of Ainos was declared Greece's 10th National Park because of the unique Cephalonian Fir Tree (Abies Cephalonica) that grows on its sides and summits. The Cephalonian Fir Tree is of great significance because it is endemic of Greece and efforts to plant it elsewhere have failed.
The lake Avithos (bottomless) or Akoli is located near St. Nicholas Village in the Area of Pyrgi. The lake was thus named because its bottom has not yet been detected, a fact that creates a lot of mystery around it. However, there is another theory claiming that the lake is intervened by a subterranean river whose force throws aside all measuring instruments.
On the way to Mantzavinata village we come across the unexplained phenomenon of Kounopetra (moving rock). It is a large rock which before the 1953 earthquake was moving to a specific rhythm. After the earthquake, its gravity base was transposed and so it stopped moving. According to a local story, English ships tried to move the rock by tying ropes and pulling it, but with no success.
In Pastra village's church of Virgin Mary an attention deserving phenomenon occurs. Every year, on Ascension Day, the faithful pick lilies from the fields and keep them in the church until August 14th. Then, during the night vigilance, they place the dried lillies around the Virgin Mary's icon and by the morning of the 15th, the lilies have blossomed again. Of course the faithful attribute this occurrence to α miracle of the Virgin Mary connected to the Miracle of the Immaculate Conception.
The shallow waters of Kaminia Beach in Ratzakli is one of the few places in Greece, in fact worldwide, where Carretta-Carretta turtles have chosen to reproduce by laying their eggs in the vast sandy beach. Unfortunately the species is in danger of extinction, a fact that has made the Foundation of Sea Turtle Protection strive to protect those adorable animals.
After the female turtle digs small holes along the beach, she lays her eggs. Some turtles can lay eggs up to 4 times during the reproductive years. Before the turtle returns to sea, she will fill the holes with roughly 120 eggs, which she will cover with sand. The average period of incubation lasts about 2 months.
As soon as the eggs incubate, usually during the late hours, the newborns instinctively search for the sea. Noise or lights may disrupt this natural course, so newborns may incubate during the day. If you ever meet baby-turtles, it is important not to touch them, so their course towards the sea is not interrupted.
Wild Horses, which natives call Wild Horses of the Spring, live at the southeast side of Ainos, at altitudes of 1.300-1.500 m. It is believed that they belong to the Pindos species and that they were remote ancestors of Voukefalas (the beloved horse of Alexander the Great). They are a bit larger than a pony, but they are unequaled in strength and ability to survive under harsh conditions of scarcity in food and water. Their body is narrow, with a triangular neck, and the color of their hair is deep brown. Their population has dramatically decreased in the last few years. From about 30 horses recorded in 1980, there were less than 10 in 1995. At present, the Wild Horses of Ainos are the most endangered species in Greece, so their preservation is of outmost importance.
