In November-December 2023, for the eighth year in a row, under a new five-year programme (2023-2027), the underwater research on the eastern coast of Salamina was continued by the Institute of Underwater Archaeological Research, with the assistance of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, under the direction of Yiannos G. Lolos, Emeritus Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology of the University of Ioannina and Dr. Angeliki G. Simosi, Head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Piraeus and Islands, with Dr. Christina Marampea, as field and documentation officer, and Nikos Golfis, as technical officer, and with the participation of archaeologists, other experts and technicians.

The underwater survey of 2023 was successfully conducted by a 12-member team and was carried out on the northwestern side of the present-day Bay of Ambelaki, where the submerged remains of the Classical city of Salamina on the southern side of the Pounta Peninsula have been intensively investigated in recent years. The remains include large parts of the 3-4 m thick sea wall, reinforced with towers, as well as parts of other strong public structures. Based on the results of the investigations of the previous years, the course of this wall (of the 4th century BC) has now been calibrated.

The data obtained from the excavation of 2023 further highlight the importance of the large building, as a public building, for the study of the topography and settlement of the ancient city of Salamina, as its location probably defines the eastern side of the area of the Agora of the Classical-Hellenistic city, near the harbour, the parts of which were seen and described (as ‘market ruins’) by the traveller Pausanias (1. 35.3) around the middle of the 2nd century AD.

The 2023 research team included:

Yannos G. Lolos and Angeliki G. Simosi (Directorate of Research), Christina Marampea (Archaeologist, responsible for fieldwork and documentation), Nikolaos Golfis (Tool Systems), Theodora Deligianni (Chemical Engineer), Anna Notia (Istructor), Louiza Dimitriou and Thomas Iosifidis (Arcaheologists), Evangelos S. Kroustalis (Archaeologist, photogrammetric imaging officer), Chrysa Fouseki (Head of Maintenance Department Ε.Ε.Α.) and Irini Malliou (Maintentance Department.), Spyros Agiazi and Frederick Kapai (Labourers), Konstantinos Tsitlakidis (Night Watchman).