Underwater Discoveries Off Greek Island Give Clues About Ancient City

Archaeologists discovered a shipwreck earlier this month off the Greek island of Delos, which was a sanctuary dedicated to the Greek gods Apollo and Artemis during the classical period of Greek antiquity between the fourth and fifth centuries B.C.

The site was a major commercial hub in the first century B.C., bustling with people and trade.

Researchers from the French Archaeological School at Athens and Greece’s Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities worked together on an underwater excavation between Sept. 5 and 15, discovering well-preserved objects dating back to the Greek-Roman period inside a submerged shipwreck. Delos, a small island, is just two miles southwest of the famous tourist attractions of Mykonos.

Building remains, including about twenty fragments of columns and pillars, were found a little further north.

The relics appear to be public buildings, according to Angeliki Simosi, director of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities.

The discoveries reveal a great deal of new information about the island’s port infrastructure and buildings, Simosi told Koini Gnomi, a local newspaper.

Simosi pointed out that the finds will help archaeologists reconstruct the map of ancient Delos with more accuracy.

“The benefits of this investigation are great,” she said.