The tombs, by Greek or Minoan standards, are generally considered to not be that ancient, the product of local Roman occupation about two thousand years ago. But "official" information on the tombs is scanty, and the ticketing booth was burned down one winter. While a fence still surrounds the area, the entrance fee collection is random and often the gate is open for free access until dark, when the floodlights snap on and illuminate the cliffs with the dark cave mouths gaping.
One interesting artifact is a large, plain limestone sarcophagus, minus its lid, which sits to one side of the fenced area. Within the caves, there are a few remnants of wall painting - some ancient, some from the 1960s when, allegedly, a few of the caves were covered with glow-in-the-dark paints.
Outside the caves, there are some interesting aggregates which may be the remains of earthquake-driven tsunami waves hitting Matala, possibly after the earthquake in 365. You'll see dirt, shells, brick, bone and other items seemingly cemented together.
Who Occupied the Caves at Matala?
1. Prehistoric families. Some caves suggest domestic occupation in pre-historic times. This may be truer of other, natural caves located elsewhere in the hills around Matala. 2. The Dead - The first "occupants" were the burials, which may have preceded Roman times. While some of the tombs do appear to be Roman-era, with arches and "couches" carved into the stone, others are simpler and The tombs themselves are somewhat similar to the necropolis in Alexandria, Egypt, and tombs in Italy built by the Etruscans who may have descended in part from Minoan colonists. It is known that Matala and the south coast of Crete traded extensively with Egypt in Roman times.3. Fishermen - The caves offer easy access to the sea, and local memory suggests that fishermen used some of them at different times as temporary housing. There are still a few caves on the opposite side of the harbor which are bigger and are used to this day for the storage of fishing equipment - and the storage of a fisherman or two, at least for short periods.
4. Gypsies - The Rom arrived in Crete very early in their European history, and have lived on the island for nearly seven hundred years. Accounts of the Gypsies on Crete mention that they sometimes lived in caves.
5. Beatnicks and Hippies - While the caves are most famously associated with international hippies living in them, one Cretan man told me that even before the "hippie era" Matala was popular with the local Cretan counterculture - including himself - in the late 1950s. The "foreigners" arrived later, many of them coming after a Life magazine photo spread on Matala. These foreigners included such luminaries as Joni Mitchell, who mentions Matala in her song "Carey" on the album "Blue", and, allegedly, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, and a number of other later-famous musicians.
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