The Department of Antiquities of the Transport Ministry has big plans to highlight Cyprus’s valuable marine treasures and to promote its research on issues of underwater archeology.
These plans are aimed at establishing a Center of Underwater Archeology in Larnaca which will include a museum, maintenance workshops, and a research center.
Already a plot of land near the town’s Salt Lake has been found and efforts are taking place to secure funds from private institutions in Cyprus and abroad. This is a multi-million-euro project that aims to become a point of reference on issues of study, promotion, and maintenance of underwater antiquities.
The vision of the Antiquities Department, as this was explained to Phileleftheros, is for the center to fulfill an educational role and convey knowledge to the wide public both at a national and a regional level.
According to the plans, the museum’s exhibition areas will present Cyprus’s archeological history in relation to the sea, including the role of ancient Kiti in Cyprus’s naval history and the excavations of the classic period port where the dock hall was discovered.
The exhibition areas will include various objects from underwater and land excavations and will also host thematic exhibitions of limited duration that will be organized in cooperation with other museums in Cyprus and abroad.
Once the Museum of Underwater Archeology is completed, it is believed to attract international attention since very few similar museums exist in the European Union.
