Shipwreck artefacts discovered during TAP offshore construction now on display in Athens
A major archaeological discovery made during TAP offshore construction is now on display in Athens through “Greece and the Routes to the West. The Shipwreck in the Otranto Strait (Italy)” exhibition at the Byzantine and Christian Museum. The exhibition runs from 16 June to 15 September 2026.
Artefacts from a 7th century BC shipwreck, discovered in the Strait of Otranto during TAP construction works, are presented as part of the exhibition. The 2,600-year-old objects were rescued by TAP teams using state-of-the-art remotely operated equipment and subsequently restored by the archaeologists of the Superintendency for Underwater Cultural Heritage of Taranto (Italy).
Identified as one of the few Greek archaic shipwrecks found to date — and the first in the Adriatic Sea — the discovery provides valuable insight into ancient maritime routes linking Greece, Italy and the wider Mediterranean.
Hosted in Athens under the auspices of the Ministries of Culture of Greece and Italy, the exhibition places the find within the broader historical context of exchange and movement across the Adriatic.
Building onits earlier presentation in Italy, the display brings this important discovery to new audiences.
The inauguration ceremony on 15 June was attended by Lina Mendoni, the Minister of Culture of Greece along with her Italian counterpart Alessandro Giuli, as well as Paolo Cuculi, the Ambassador of Italy to Greece; TAP was represented by Ioannis Maris, Country Representative for Greece, and Konstantinos Chalatsopoulos, Operations & Maintenance Manager for Greece.
For TAP, the exhibition highlights how the regions it connects today were already linked thousands of years ago through trade and navigation — and how discoveries made during its construction contribute to preserving and sharing this common cultural heritage.
