Pavlopetri, the sunken town

Opposite the island, between the islet of Pavlopetri, a smaller rock and the coast at Pounta, the seabed hides the ruins of a prehistoric town. Life here began in the Final Neolithic, some 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, and went on until the end of the Bronze Age.

What survives

The town covers about 50,000 square metres. On the seabed you can make out the plans of houses with many rooms, courtyards and streets about five metres wide, and some 40 cist graves between or even under the houses. Only the stone foundations survive; the walls above were of mud brick and are gone.

On the shore at Pounta there is also a cemetery of at least 60 graves cut into the rock, some now under water. An ancient channel, probably Roman, carried sea water into Lake Strongyli to make salt.

Researchers believe Pavlopetri was an important centre of the Vatika area, on the sea route to Kythira and Crete. Fragments of large storage jars and loom weights point to trade and workshops.

How it was found

The ruins were first noticed by the geologist Fokion Negris in 1904. The oceanographer Nicholas Flemming found them again in 1967, and in 1968 a University of Cambridge team mapped the town. From 2009 to 2013 the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and the University of Nottingham found more than 9,000 square metres of new buildings and showed the settlement is older than was thought.

Visiting

The water is clear and shallow, under three metres, so with a mask and fins you can see the streets, foundations and graves. Go in from the shore at Pounta. The site is protected: do not touch, do not stand on the walls and do not take anything, and check the current rules before scuba diving.

Finds from the area are shown in the Archaeological Museum of Neapoli, and two storage jars from the 2011 excavation in the museum at Pylos.