28 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists Discovered Submerged Stoa Complex in Ancient Salamis, Greece

Archaeologists exploring the east coast of Salamis, the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, discovered a large, long, and narrow public building partially submerged underwater.

The discovery was announced by Greece’s Ministry of Culture on Thursday. This is near the site of one of the most important naval battles in history, the Battle of Salamis (480 BC).

The marine archaeologists have been investigating the waters in Ampelakia Bay, off the island of Salamis. They conducted a three-year study of the city’s eastern shores on the northwestern side of the Ambelaki-Knosoura marine area as part of a joint research project between the Institute of Marine Archaeological Research, the Ephorate of Marine Antiquities, and the University of Ioannina. Previous research has discovered sunken Classical city remains, including large sections of the sea wall and submerged ruins of public buildings.

Excavations within the former landside of the sea wall have revealed a public building identified as a stoa. The meaning of Stoa is an ancient Greek portico usually walled at the back with a front colonnade designed to afford a sheltered promenade. In addition to providing a place for the activities of civil magistrates, shopkeepers, and others, stoas often served as galleries for art and public monuments, were used for religious purposes, and delineated public space.

The building, with a constant width of 6 meters, is traced so far, at a length of 32 meters. The interior includes a series of at least 6-7 rooms, of which one was investigated, with internal dimensions of 4.7 x 4.7 meters., with large storage pits. It has solid walls, about 60 centimeters thick, made of large hewn stone plinths.

Photo: Greek Ministry of Culture

Based on the size, shape and arrangement of its spaces, archeologists assume that the building presents all the characteristics of a portico. A porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns.

During the excavations, various artifacts and objects were discovered, including Classical-Hellenistic period ceramics, amphora stoppers, fragments of marble objects, and 22 bronze coins.

Two of the marble objects are particularly significant and date from the 4th century BC. The first is a column with a fragmentary verse inscription, and the second is a stele with a muscular right hand of a large figure. The stele matches a marble stele from around 320 BC housed in Salamis’ Archaeological Museum.

The identification of the Stoa is a very important new element for the study of the topography and residential organization of the ancient city.

Stoa is open to the west and probably marks the eastern boundary of the Agora area of the Classical-Hellenistic city rather than the port, extending on generally level ground to the west/northwest of the building. Its ruins were seen and described, literally, by the traveler Pausanias around the middle of the 2nd century.

Research is the first interdisciplinary underwater research, carried out intensively (since 2016) by Greek agencies, in areas of the historic Strait, in the Ampelaki-Kynosoura marine area.

Greek Ministry of Culture

Cover Photo: Greek Ministry of Culture

Related Articles

1,800-year-old Roman remains discovered in valley of eastern Turkey

21 February 2022

21 February 2022

Roman remains dating back 1800 years have been found in a valley in eastern Turkey. Among the Roman ruins found...

Archaeologists uncover 850-year-old 170 silver medieval coins in an ancient grave, in Sweden

27 April 2024

27 April 2024

During archaeological excavations in a medieval graveyard in Brahekyrkan on the Swedish island of Visingsö, archaeologists uncovered about 170 silver...

A Hoard of Gold and Silver Roman Coins Dating Back to the Reign of Emperor Nero was Found in Worcestershire

7 December 2024

7 December 2024

A hoard of Roman and Iron Age silver coins dating back to Emperor Nero’s reign has been found during building...

A princely tomb discovered in the infrastructure project of the A7 Ploieşti-Buzău highway in Romania

20 December 2022

20 December 2022

An impressive archaeological discovery took place on the Ploiești-Buzău section of the Moldova Highway. The excavations uncovered a princely tomb,...

Unlucky medieval woman underwent at least two skull surgeries in Longobard Italy

14 February 2023

14 February 2023

A detailed examination of the skull of a woman who lived at the medieval settlement of Castel Trosino in central...

A rare statue of K’awiil, Mayan god of Lighting have uncovered in Mexico

1 May 2023

1 May 2023

In southeastern Mexico, archaeologists uncovered a rare sculpture of a powerful Mayan god near the path of a large-scale rail...

Delikkemer Aqueduct: A Roman Engineering Wonder Along the Lycian Way

17 May 2025

17 May 2025

Hidden among the lush forests of southwestern Turkey, the Delikkemer Aqueduct stands as a testament to ancient Roman ingenuity. Located...

Researchers reveal the 4,500-year-old network of funerary avenues in Arabian Peninsula

15 January 2022

15 January 2022

Archaeologists from the University of Western Australia (UWA) have determined that people living in ancient northwest Arabia built long-distance “funerary...

5000-year-old female figurines found in a Ukrainian cave

15 May 2023

15 May 2023

Archaeologists discovered five clay female figurines hidden inside a hole in a wall in Verteba Cave, in the Borshchiv Region...

Infinite Embrace: New research sheds light on Bronze Age family relationships that link Britain to Luxembourg

30 January 2024

30 January 2024

A new study of early Bronze Age examples from Luxembourg and Britain, led by researchers from the universities of Mainz...

Archaeologists discovered 22 mummies wrapped in bundles, mainly children and newborns in Peru

7 December 2023

7 December 2023

The mummified burials of 22 people, mostly young children and newborn babies, were found in the Peruvian town of Barranca...

A prehistoric monument consisting of three round enclosures, one of which resembles a horseshoe, was discovered in France

7 April 2024

7 April 2024

Archaeologists from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) unearthed an unusual, prehistoric monument in the shape of...

Archaeologists Unearth Cisterns at Izmir’s Ancient “City of Mother Goddess”

2 June 2021

2 June 2021

In the ancient city of Metropolis, in western Turkey, in the province of Izmir, something that played an important role...

2,000-Year-Old Unique Composite Fish Scaled Armor Found in Ancient Tomb

20 December 2024

20 December 2024

Chinese researchers have recently found fish-scaled armor in the tomb of Liu He, Marquis of Haihun from the Western Han...

Explore 1,400-year-old ruins, submerged in Eastern China – Atlantis of China

10 June 2023

10 June 2023

Deep in Qiandao Lake, between China’s Five Lion Mountains, lie the mysterious ruins of two ancient cities, dating back to...