SOUNIO

At 11 p.m on 7.9.86 "Kyrenia II" arrived at its first port of call, the ancient harbour of Sounio. There the captain was given a symbolic cargo by the Mayor of Lavrio. The cargo was a turtle made of lead from the mines at Lavrio.

Speaking during the ceremony, the Mayor asked the captain to deliver the cargo in Cyprus.

Lavrio and Cyprus had the oldest mines in the Greek world that supplied all the Aegean civilizations from prehistoric times onwards, the former with silver and lead, the latter with copper, making a momentous contribution to the development of civilization.

With the delivery of lead, the Mayor stressed, "we want to symbolically repeat the ancient trade in valuable raw materials that started from here and reached every port in the Eastern Mediterranean."

Details taken from a Press Release issued by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture on 8.9.86.


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Last Updated: Tuesday, May 28, 1996