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The secrets of the Roman Empire's ancient and 'luxurious' harbour of Corinth have been revealed in a series of new underwater excavations. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of 'large-scale engineering' at the port of Lechaion, which was mostly destroyed in the 6th or early 7th century AD by a massive earthquake. Wooden foundations preserved so well they look new have been found at the site, as well as a host of Roman artefacts including fishing lines and hooks, wooden pulleys and ceramics imported from Tunisia and Turkey. These discoveries are helping researchers understand the infrastructure and layout of an ancient port...

In Greece, underwater excavations of Lechaion, ancient Corinth's partially submerged harbour town, reveal the infrastructure of more than a thousand years of flourishing maritime trade. Researchers from the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports and the University of Copenhagen are using cutting-edge methods to uncover the configuration and scale of the harbour. Corinth ranked among the most economically and militarily powerful, and enduring, cities of the Greek, Roman and Byzantine periods. The city had an exceptional geographical advantage in the North East corner of the Peloponnese and controlled the Isthmus that facilitated land travel between Northern and Southern Greece, and...

An ancient Greek port was revealed and recorded at the location of the Ancient Lechaion harbor, in the area of the modern Corinth Gulf, in the Peloponnese. The submerged ancient port covered a total area of 2,750 square meters. It ran 911 meters along the modern Corinth Gulf coastline and the entrance channel to the port lay on the harbor’s eastern part. The channel is 8.9 meters wide while a western and a middle mole were also found west of it. The port played a pivotal role in Corinthian history, as it was located about 3 km west of Ancient...