Numerous finds from underwater excavations at Delos

Archaeologists discovered remains of ancient coastal structures and a port, a large number of shipwrecks dating back to various eras and significant smaller finds during underwater excavations at the island of Delos.

Underwater investigation of the site (by Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports)

The excavations were conducted in May and managed to confirm again that the island of Delos was an important trading base and an important maritime trade route through the ages. It linked the east and west Mediterranean. Archaeologists investigated the area of the breakwater protecting the central port of Delos in antiquity. The structure is now underwater due to the rise of sea level by two metres since then. Experts state that the breakwater was an impressively strong structure, roughly 160 metres long and at least 40 metres wide, built on a pile of unshaped rocks, while its upper structure was for the great part constructed of granite blocks of impressive size.

Amphorae at the sea bed (by Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports)

Other finds from the investigation include the remains of walls and a fallen colonnade, the remains of a later Hellenistic era shipwreck carrying amphorae of oil and wine from Italy and the western Mediterranean, as well as another two shipwrecks from the same era off the southern tip of Delos and at Rineia, in Fylladi Bay. Two shipwrecks at Kato Kerenale and Fournoi were also mapped. All of them date back to between the end of the 2nd century and 1st century BC, when the island was at the height of its prosperity, before it was sacked by Mithridates and the pirates of Cilicia.

(after Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports, Tornos News & Greek Reporter)

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