HIDDEN TREASURE
Secrets of Roman Empire’s ancient harbour revealed 1,400 years on in incredible video
Teams of divers have discovered a massive port which was ruined in a quake and left hidden for hundreds of years
A ROMAN port which was destroyed in the 6th or early 7th century AD by a catastrophic earthquake has been uncovered underneath the Mediterranean.
Archaeologists have made the remarkable discovery in Corinth on the coast of Greece after months of underwater excavations.
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Divers found evidence of large-scale Roman engineering in the 430,000 sq ft docks with an infrastructure of wooden cranes, quays and basins.
Called Lechaion, it was one of a pair connecting the city of ancient Corinth to Mediterranean trade networks.
Having conquered Greece in 146 BC, Julius Caesar is believed to have rebuilt the trade hub in 44 BC, ushering in several centuries of wealth and prosperity for the thriving metropolis.
The super-rich lived here in sprawling villas, with slaves attending to their every whim and all the luxuries money could buy.
But after an earthquake struck the port in 6th or 7th century AD, it was abandoned.
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Centuries of sediment settled to perfectly preserve wood and other organic materials at the site.
The ruins were then left untouched until the Lechaion Harbour Project (LHP) began excavating in 2015 after pinpointing the site of the harbour city.
The team have also discovered ceramics used to transport trade goods originating from Italy, Tunisia, and Turkey.
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The astonishing find comes as archaeologists have revealed a sunken city of the Caesars, lost for centuries beneath the waves.
Baiae was the resort of choice and was synonymous with wickedness, historians claim - a wine-soaked party town.
But as the centuries passed, much of it was lost to the sea as volcanic activity caused the coastline to retreat 400m inland.
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Now the site in the Gulf of Naples, modern-day Italy, has been re-discovered and opened to divers - who found many treasures still intact.
Antonio Busiello, who lives in Naples, photographed the site and found that roads, walls, mosaics and even statues had survived the ravages of time.
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