Just outside the harbor of Avlemonas, at 20 meters depth, a group from the Institute of Marine Archaeology found in 1980 an ancient shipwreck! It was “Mentor”, the ship Lord Elgin used in 1802 to transfer the stolen Parthenon sculptures and fragments of other monuments.
After the sinking of “Mentor”, Lord Elgin had used free divers from Kalymnos to haul whatever they could from the precious cargo. The archaeologists’ investigation identified the remains of this effort, such as appliances and items of the crew, including a clock stopped at 1:10 or 2:05.
This should be the sinking time, as Lord Elgin’s secretary writes in his diary that the ship started sinking in the early morning hours. So far they have discovered nine stone anchors, relics of shipwrecks and an abundance of articles providing important information on trade and navigation of the time!
