Underwater City gives up its secrets

Pavlopetri off the coast of Laconia

The hidden city of Pavlopetri, off the coast of Laconia, Greece is the world's oldest submerged town. Lying a mere three to four metres under water, like an underwater Pompeii, Pavlopetri eerily represents ‘a frozen moment of the past’. The ancient Greek settlement, that has been described as the inspiration behind the ‘Lost City of Atlantis’, had until recently been left unstudied since it’s first discovery in 1967.

Archaeologists are now using new breakthroughs in military sonar mapping devices to uncover this ancient city’s secrets. So far the team of international divers sanctioned by the Greek government and Nottingham University have discovered ancient artefacts preserved by the ocean dating back to the early Bronze age, 1200 years earlier than first thought.

The find has proved invaluable in informing maritime historians of how harbour trade was conducted up to 5,000 years ago. After becoming submerged in 1000 BCE the city never emerged and has therefore never been disrupted from the state it was abandoned in. Dr Jon Henderson the Project Director said “The site is unique in that it has an almost complete town plan and buildings are clearly visible on the seabed”.

The ancient town that new technology has helped to bring back, digitally of course, will continue to be excavated and explored spanning the next five years with research being published in full in 2014. Until then necessary means are being taken to save this lost city from further environmental damage or interferences made by boats or divers.