PETRALONA CAVE

Petralona Cave is characterized by unique speleological, anthropological, paleontological and archaeological wealth. Its stalactite decoration is impressive, and its scientific importance is internationally known. One of the oldest and best-preserved human skulls in Europe was discovered there, along with Paleolithic stone tools and a rich fossil fauna.

As it is well known, the most common problem of caves is Malattia Verde (the green disease) involving the development of microflora in the stalactities and stalagmities of the site. The main causes of this disease are inadequate ventilation, the microbial load of the visitors but most of all, the artificial lighting. During the renovation of the cave that took place in 2023 more than 350 spots and 20 projectors were installed along the visitor’s passage. The project had an extremely high complexity of controlling, supervising the whole lights in different areas, with different scenarios and in different dimming ranges that can be mixed. The guide should be able to choose, the dimming level, the guidance scheme, and the necessary security lighting level in the beginning of a tour, maintaining the chance to switch on the whole lighting and cancel every prescheduled scenario if something unexpected occurred.

In this project there is only human and nature. It is a matter of showing 500.000 years of nature creativity, through KNX technology, that interferes the least in any aesthetic way with the cave. It was a big challenge for us. We chose KNX technology, simple buttons that carry out the complexity through logical units showing off the natural exhibits. KNX exists as an unseen hero serving nature and human history in this cave and we are immensely proud to be part of this special challenging project.