Kyrenia ship wreck museum

Kyrenia ship wreck museum

Not only does Kyrenia have the oldest female tandem paraglider (as featured in the 2013 Guiness Book of Records), but Kyrenia is also home  to the oldest shipwreck in the world.

Within the great halls of Kyrenia castle you can find a 2,300 year old Greek trading vessel. It is the oldest ship yet to have been discovered and excavated from the seabed anywhere in the World.

The remains of the vessel and its almost complete cargo were brought to the surface in 1965.  The cargo consisted of some 400 wine amphorae from Rhodes, 29 stone grain mills, lead weights and a staggering 9,000 almonds (it is believed that the almonds might have been the crews food).
No skeletons were found in the wreck, so it is happily assumed that no one died when this vessel went down (perhaps there should have been 401 wine amphoraes, but the crew drowned their sorrows not their souls!).
You can find the reconstructed vessel in a temperature controlled room in one of the great halls along the eastern side of Kyrenia castle.  The Aleppo pine timbers had to be soaked in a preservative bath, then dried. It is in this form that you can now view the boat. It really is something special. The age of the ship was determined by carbon dating of both the timbers and the almonds.

The shipwreck museum is just one of many fascinating features of Kyrenia castle and it comes very highly recommended by Jewels of the Med.

When booking your holiday to North Cyprus, call us on 020 3150 0075 to book a trip to visit the museum or one of our many other daily activities.