What was the name of the ancient Greek oracle of the dead near the Acheron river?

The Necromanteion was the ancient Greek oracle of the dead near the Acheron River.

The Necromanteion, or “Oracle of the Dead,” was traditionally located in Epirus near the ancient city of Ephyra, close to the meeting point of the Acheron, Pyriphlegethon, and Cocytus rivers. Worshippers believed these waterways connected the earthly landscape with Hades, the realm of the dead. The sanctuary was devoted to Hades and Persephone.

Ancient visitors reportedly came seeking communication with deceased relatives and ancestors. Herodotus says that Periander, the sixth-century BCE tyrant of Corinth, sent messengers to consult the dead spirit of his wife Melissa. Homer’s Odyssey also describes a journey toward the underworld in the Acheron region, though the poem does not function as a modern archaeological guide.

A site at Mesopotamos was identified as the Necromanteion after excavations beginning in 1958, but that identification remains disputed. The ruins appear to date from the later fourth century BCE, and some scholars interpret them as a fortified Hellenistic farmhouse rather than a functioning oracle. The name and traditional location nevertheless remain the standard quiz answer.