Cyprus Showcases Ancient Undersea Harbor to Draw Tourists

Cyprus Antiquities Department official Yiannis Violaris snorkels over submerged stone remains of the ancient harbor next of Amathus ancient city, in the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, on July 1, 2021. Petros Karadjias/AP Photo

AMATHUS, Cyprus—It’s said that Demetrius the Besieger, a mighty warrior king and one of Alexander the Great’s successors, built this harbor on Cyprus’s southern coast 2,400 years ago to thwart a potential naval invasion from the ruler of Egypt, Ptolemy I, another of Alexander’s heirs.

French archaeologists who initially studied the ancient harbor of Amathus believe it to be an incomplete military fortification work, the three piers of which would have accommodated the best of the ancient world’s naval ships, ready to repel an attacking force.