Pavlopetri

The city of Pavlopetri, in Vatika Bay underwater off the coast of southern Laconia in Peloponnese, Greece, is about 5,000 years old, making it the oldest submerged city known in the world. Pavlopetri is unique in having an almost complete town plan, including streets, buildings, and tombs. Name Pavlopetri (or Paulopetri) literally translates to Paul's stone and is a direct reference to St. Paul. Discovery and location Discovered in 1967 by Nicholas Flemming and mapped in 1968 by a team of archaeologists from Cambridge, Pavlopetri is located between the islet of Pavlopetri and the Pounta coast of Laconia on the Peloponnese peninsula. The site is northeast of the village on the island of Elafonisos. The archeological site as well as the islet and the surrounding sea area are within the region of the Elafonisos Municipality, the old "Onou Gnathos" peninsula (according to Pausanias). While Pavlopetri was inhabited, Eflafonisos would have been connected to the Peloponnese by the means of Pavlopetri. Since then the sea level has risen and earthquakes have pushed the city down, making the gap between Elafonisos and Peloponnese larger. In Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian War", it is suggested that Elafonisos was connected to Peloponnese. There are also incisions on the north side of Elafonisos in the rock that were used for transporting goods with carts. Origins Originally, the ruins were dated to the Mycenaean period, 1600–1100 BCE but later studies showed a much earlier occupation dating back to 3500 BCE, so it also includes artifacts from the Final Neolithic Age, Chalcolithic Age, Bronze Age, and middle Minoan and transitional material. It is now believed that the town was submerged around 1000 BCE by the first of three earthquakes that the area suffered. The area never re-emerged, so it was neither built-over nor disrupted by agriculture. Although eroded over the centuries, the town layout is as it was thousands of years ago. The site is under threat of damage by boats dragging anchors, as well as by tourists and souvenir hunters.