The massive base of the ancient Greek navy

The large structure containing hundreds of warships in a seaport near Athens contributed to the resounding victory of the Greek army before the Persian Empire thousands of years ago.

After more than a decade of exploration of the waters off the Mounichia fishing port near Athens, archaeologists discovered traces of an ancient Greek naval base, with fortified roofs protecting the ships. Three-tiered "triremes" battle paddles. According to Live Science, this base is one of the largest structures known in the ancient world.

Figure of building a roof covering the warships in the ancient Greek naval base.(Photo: Bjørn Lovén).

In these waters, divers found six large roofs, each 7-8m high, 50m long, used to protect ancient Greek warships in front of the species, while keeping ships dry. well.

Bjørn Lovén, associate professor of oceanography and archeology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, began implementing the Zea Harbor Project , which included a series of sea and land excavations beginning in 2001 and ending 2012. The project aims to understand the two ancient Greek seaports of Zea and Mounichia in the port city of Piraeus, discovering and recording ancient naval bases in the region. At Mounichia, the researchers focused on areas inside and outside where ships were parked.

Archaeologists work underwater.(Photo: Bjørn Lovén).

Because the water in the port is heavily polluted, divers must follow special procedures and use specialized equipment in turbid waters, and wear many layers of clothing to minimize the risk of exposure to toxic chemicals. . Vision is much restricted in most of the time of diving and archaeologists working underwater cannot see more than 20cm.

Although they had to work in difficult conditions, divers not only excavated and mapped ships, but also discovered pieces of ceramics and wood debris under the columns that date from 520 to 480 years ago. Public. According to Lovén, this indicates that some ships were used in the Salamis battle in 480 BC between Athens and Persian troops, in which the Greeks won.