Greece’s First Underwater Museum Opens to Divers
A soft opening of Greece’s first underwater museum recently allowed divers to explore what’s been dubbed “the Parthenon of shipwrecks” before the site’s official opening in June 2021.
The Athenian shipwreck, named Peristera for a nearby island, lies 80 feet deep in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and Northern Sporades. It likely met its demise around 425 B.C, near the end of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta.
In its prime, the Peristera would have been considered a first-class merchant vessel that transported items like lavish tableware and thousands of jugs of wine called amphorae.
After more than 2,000 years lost to the waves, the wreck was discovered by local fishermen Dimitris Mavrikis in 1985. Archeologists say the Peristera is one of the best-preserved shipwrecks of its time.
Divers fin over amphorae, which was part of Peristera's cargo.
Shutterstock.com/scubadesign
“The amphorae cargo has maintained its consistency and remains in place, in layers, such as was loaded in the hold, indicating the vessel’s shape,” Pari Kalamara, director of Greece’s Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, tells National Geographic. “This is a significantly unique experience for the [divers] who visualize a classical-era vessel.”
Alonissos, Sporades, Greece
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For years after its discovery, only archaeologists could access the wreck to deter looting. But now it will become a historical attraction of Greek maritime tourism. The museum’s initial pilot phase ran from about August to October 2020, opening the wreck to recreational diving. Four trips were permitted to the site per day, led by a select few local operators, for advanced divers or those who dove a training course before visiting the site.
“There has been huge interest from all over the world,” Kostas Efstathiou of Alonissos Triton Dive Center, one of the accredited local guides, tells National Geographic. “I believe in the coming years Alonissos will take her place on the global diving map.”
If you’re not able to visit Greece just yet, you can watch the ship in real-time via a live video stream.
“[It] is awe-inspiring,” Efstathiou says. “What you see … is 2,500 years old, a time travel.”
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