For the first time, more than 80 objects of the Antikythera Shipwreck are exhibited 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 exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Culture and the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and is curated by Dr. Archaeologist Angeliki G. Simosi.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated colour catalogue and guided tours will be scheduled during the exhibition. For its young friends, the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, on the occasion of the completion of the subsidized program “From the Aegean to the Ionian: A sea of knowledge”, designed the educational workshop: A dive into History to “dive” in the shipwrecks of the Greek seas.
Within the framework of the exhibition, the Foundation designed, in collaboration with the Karpos team, the educational workshop “A dive into maritime archaeology. An interactive story game in the Greek seas” for children aged 10-14. Children will tour the exhibition and through group collaborative activities and the use of digital and audiovisual tools they will discuss concepts and processes of maritime archaeology and the current role of archaeology. Through practical activities, based on observation and photography, They will learn about incredible shipwrecks and how archaeologists work to uncover treasures that have been lost for centuries.
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.
Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation
2nd Merarchias 36 & Aktis Moutsopoulou str.
Piraeus (metro station Dimotiko Theatro)
