The Antikythera Shipwreck: 124 years of underwater archaeological research

For the first time, more than 80 objects of the Antikythera Shipwreck are exhibited until March 30, 2025, at the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, in the most complete temporary exhibition to date that presents the results of modern research, from 2012 to the recent ones of 2024, and provides information about the ship, its equipment, cargo and its occupants.




After six years, the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation is once again hosting findings from the Antikythera shipwreck, offering once again the opportunity to the public to get to know and tour the great findings of the miraculous Antikythera shipwreck with its famous Mechanism.

Bronze rings used to manage sails, lead rings that released the five anchors carried by the ship, as well as handkerchiefs from the ship’s hull are some of the objects that give information about the ship’s rigging, information presented for the first time after 12 years of excavations. The exhibition also includes spears, amphorae, lustrous, metal objects, glassware, jewelry and a rich collection of ceramics that reveal the ship’s cargo and the route it followed, with stops at all the important ports of the time such as Kos, Rhodes etc.

Among the findings, oversized parts of marble and bronze statues hold a special place. What stands out is the marble head of Hercules crowned with vine, which seems to belong to the marble headless statue of Hercules of the Farnese type, of the National Archaeological Museum that was lifted in 1901 by the Symian sponge divers.

It is worth noting that parts of human bones are also presented in the exhibition, giving information about the shipwrecked, while objects such as pipe parts, pillars and olive fruit kernels testify to the way of life during the journey.

The exhibition “The Antikythera Shipwreck: 124 years of underwater archaeological research” is articulated in sections on the ground floor of the Historical Library of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, where parts of the ship and its rigging are exhibited in the first room. In the lobby of the main hall are presented the exhibits related to shipwrecked people and living on board, while the main hall is occupied by objects from the ship’s cargo.

The famous shipwreck of Antikythera, with its famous Mechanism and its rich cargo, became 124 years ago a unique, hidden in the seabed “monument” of cultural heritage, whose discovery contributed to the beginning of Underwater Archaeology in our country. And as long as research continues, the findings are sure to impress us.