This will be the first underwater museum in Greece
Greece will open an underwater museum for the first time in June 2021 . Its about Peristera shipwreck , discovered in the mid-1980s and located in the Alonnisos Marine National Park in the Aegean Sea.
So between the June 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021 , the Greek government will allow to reach one of the most interesting shipwrecks of all time, whose discovery allowed historians to confirm the Origins of shipbuilding in the Ancient World and demonstrate, in turn, that the Greeks were more advanced than the Romans in terms of ships.
Visit the Peristera shipwreck is now possible thanks to a general change in Greece's diving management policy in 2005, thereby repealing the ban on recreational diving in all Greek territorial waters with few exceptions.
The Peristera shipwreck is one of the most interesting
Both the pressure exerted by the Greek diving community and the realization that the underwater cultural heritage of the country was particularly attractive and could be used in the framework of the socio-economic development of a cultural diving tourism alternative , allowed them to abandon all kinds of restrictions.
"The opening of Peristera is extremely important for the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Greece . In the first place because it allows us to manage underwater monuments as well as those on land, raise public awareness and create better conditions for protection of underwater cultural heritage ", says Pari Kalamara, director of the Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, to Traveler.es.
THIS WILL BE THE FIRST UNDERWATER MUSEUM OF GREECE
With regard to the most valuable archaeological heritage of the underwater museum , there is no doubt that she is a ship that has been discovered near the western coast of Peristera and at a depth of 28 meters. It is estimated that said finding constituted a freighter that transported amphorae with wine from Mendi , an ancient city of Halkidiki, and Peparithos, today's Skopelos Island, and which sank in the area in 425 BC.
According to historians, she is the largest ship of her class discovered under the sea, and according to Pari Kalamara "The visitor who dives at the Peristera shipwreck it stands in front of the ship's cargo, which has maintained its cohesion, although the hull has been lost. This is very impressive because at first you can see the shape of the ship, without knowing which is the bow and which is the stern , and once closer, you can see how the ship has been loaded, that is, how the amphorae were layered."
The museum is located in the Alonnisos Marine National Park
The divers not only will they bump into the ship, the purpose of the tour is for them to get an overview of the site from the surface, then get closer to the seafloor and can see the natural environment that houses the shipwreck , an area that has been transformed into an artificial reef filled with a rich marine fauna.
In addition, the excavation trench that was carried out on the site during the 1990s by the archaeologist Elpida Hatzidaki , who carried out systematic research on the wreck, has become a more than interesting point for the diving enthusiasts.
This year, the Peristera wreck in Alonnisos will be open to the public from June 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021 . It should be noted that the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports will not make tickets available, as this is a pilot operation.
Those interested in visiting the shipwreck must arrange the visit through the Diving Center, who in turn will be in charge of coordinating the date and reservation of the time of the dive with the Greek Eforate of Underwater Antiquities.
It can be visited between June 1 and September 30, 2021