Peristera shipwreck

Its cargo of 3000-4000 amphoras made it the largest transport ship yet known of its period when excavation began in 1992, and it carried wine from Mende and Skopelos.

In addition to amphoras, the ship transported many valuable items including black-glazed cups, plates and bronze tableware.

In 1982 Greek diver and fisherman Dimitrios Mavrikis with his son Kostas discovered a large Classical-era shipwreck near the islet of Peristera at Alonnisos in the Northern Sporades.

The bulk of the amphoras come from Mende and Skopelos, ancient Peparethos,[3] and a smaller number originated at Ikos, Chios, and Kerkyra.

A conservative estimate of the cargo of the shipwreck indicates that it carried 4200 amphoras, with a weight of 126 metric tons.

Thus we have a conclusive proof that the Greeks constructed ships capable of carrying burdens up to 150 metric tons from the fifth century BC onwards,[6][7] something previously thought to only have been possible during the Roman period.

The area immediately surrounding the shipwreck was opened to the public for scuba diving visits as the Alonissos Underwater Museum (Υποθαλάσσιο Μουσείο Αλοννήσου) in 2020.