Submerged Ancient Greek City's Treasures Emerge 2,000 Years Later

An Ancient Greek public building and extensive collection of marble treasures have been found partially submerged at the site of a now-sunken ancient city—once home to Trojan War warrior Ajax, according to Homer's Iliad—off the coast of Salamis.

The striking new findings, believed to be from the 4th century B.C., were unveiled by the Greek Ministry of Culture on October 26 as part of a wider underwater excavation project of the area.

The excavation began in 2022 when a team of 12 archaeologists set upon investigating the remains of a large, long and narrow public building that has been partially submerged on the Northeastern coast of the island.

"Based on the size, shape and arrangement of its premises, but also other elements, the unveiled building presents all the characteristics of Stoa," the Ministry of Culture said in a Facebook post.

A stoa is the name given to covered, columned walkways in Greek architecture which often surrounded marketplaces and acted as a public promenade and place for doing business. "The recognition of Stoa is a new important element for the study of topography and residential organization of the ancient city," the ministry said.

Leading off from the central stoa—which has a width of about 20 feet and a length of 105—is a collection of at least seven smaller rooms. Inside one of these rooms was a large storage area, measuring roughly 15 square feet and containing a miscellany of ancient artifacts, including bronze coins, vases and fragments of marble.

Two of these marble fragments were of "particular importance," the ministry said, including one bearing the arm of a giant placing a crown on the head of a smaller, bearded man. "The scene directly refers to a corresponding relief representation on a marble stele, from 320 BC. approx., in the Archaeological Museum of Salamis (MP 4228), with the hero as the main figure, in the setting of the famous teenage festival of Aianteia," the Ministry said.

The island of Salamis is perhaps well known for an ancient string of battles that lasted from 499 B.C. to 449 B.C. between Greece and the Persian Empire, known as the Battle of Salamis.

The island is also referenced in Homer's Iliad as the home of the Trojan War hero Ajax. It was mentioned later by the Greek geographer Pausanias in the second century, but by then the ancient city had already begun to deteriorate.

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