NARRATOR: One of the great lost cities of the ancient world,
today, the site of Olous
lies submerged in the Mediterranean Sea.
A sprawling metropolis home to thousands of people
who worship strange gods is hidden beneath the waves.
NARRATOR: How does this unique city survive the rise
and fall of Europe's greatest civilizations against all odds?
And does a catastrophic earthquake cause Olous to sink?
Now, archaeologists use cutting-edge technology to
uncover the wonders of this lost world.
NARRATOR: To solve these mysteries,
we digitally reconstruct this submerged city.
We explore its links to Europe's first
great civilization,
discover how it evades destruction by the mighty
Roman Empire,
and investigate whether an ancient apocalypse has a part
to play in the downfall of this sunken city.
The north coast of Crete.
A mysterious road emerges at low tide.
It heads straight into the Mediterranean Sea.
The sea and sand have kept these ruins a secret
for centuries.
But now, a new breed of maritime
archaeologists can descend beneath the surface
to investigate.
NARRATOR: Their discoveries here match ancient
accounts of a legendary city called Olous.
Archaeologists dive down and discover carved stones,
the foundations of a remarkable ancient settlement.
At the center lies the beating heart of a city,
a hub of impressive temples and public buildings.
They explore stone houses and shops
that line a maze of narrow streets
and a 10-foot-wide defensive wall
that protects this prosperous place from attacks.
These are the underwater ruins of Olous.
What can they reveal about the city and its importance?
The team of underwater experts searching for
answers here is led by
archaeologist Theotokis Theodoulou.
He is on a mission to identify the city's
limits and discover the scale of this ancient site.
His team will be the first to excavate the city.
150 feet offshore,
Theotokis finds what he is looking for.
Theotokis believes this line of stones is
evidence of a man-made structure.
NARRATOR: The discovery of an ancient wall
could reveal the boundaries of the city.
Theotokis has uncovered Olous's southern walls.
He traces the wall to map the city's layout.
But after 165 feet, it ends.
The large, manmade boulders suddenly stop.
Sections of the city wall are missing.
Theotokis wants to know just how big this city is.
He heads back to land to
continue his investigation from another viewpoint, above.
He launches a high-resolution,
drone-mounted camera to survey the coastline.
The aerial footage reveals a maze of
over 1000 feet of modern walls on land.
It's a vast labyrinth today.
Theotokis hunts for signs of any ancient structures
among them.
THEOTOKIS: Inside the fields,
there are some remnants of parts of the city wall.
NARRATOR: Telltale signs lie beneath
some of the modern walls,
boulders of the same dimensions and material as
the underwater structures.
They are proof that some of these modern
walls are built on top of the ancient city.
The walls on land and underwater encompass
36 acres, about the size of eight Manhattan city blocks.
Theotokis uses this figure to calculate the city's population.
THEOTOKIS: We can talk about something like 10,000 or more.
NARRATOR: This is no small-scale city.
It's a major metropolis.
Theotokis returns underwater to investigate
why so many people live here.
Not far from the city wall, he spies something.
NARRATOR: The robust structure stands out from
the rest of the ruins of Olous.
Theotokis and his team use an underwater
camera to document this mysterious structure.
He returns to dry land to analyze a 3D model of
his images.
The 3D model reveals a substantial ruin.
The structure stretches 50 feet long
and 26 feet wide.
THEOTOKIS: These worked sandstones,
they are material that it was
not used by people for their houses.
These were probably used for public buildings
and for important buildings of the city.
These stones could be the remains of
a 50-foot-long jetty.
The ancient people likely build it here to take
advantage of the city's
brilliant natural harbor that is sheltered by the landscape
from prevailing winds and enemy attack.
Olous is a rich port at
the junction of the Mediterranean
and Aegean Seas.
When does the city reach this thriving peak?
Can the jetty's stones reveal its age?
Olous is mentioned in a 3rd century CE
list of ports in the Roman Empire.
It is one of the first times
the city's name appears in the historical record.
Theotokis wants to find out if this grand coastal
metropolis is created
by the Romans or if it could be even more ancient.
He explores a submerged location
he believes could hold the answers,
a rocky outcrop just on the outskirts of the city.
NARRATOR: The land connecting the island to
the mainland is chiseled away in ancient times.
It forms part of an ancient quarry.
Just like Olous, the quarry is now mostly hidden underwater.
Theotokis finds marks on the sea floor where
the rock has been cut away to create solid blocks.
NARRATOR: The submerged quarry could help reveal
the date the city is built.
Today, it is 6.5 feet underwater,
but when it is quarried, it is on dry land.
The site's depth matches that of other ruins
across Crete that date to around 300 BCE.
This reveals Olous is built at this time,
the era of ancient Greek domination
of the Eastern Mediterranean.
But could discoveries nearby be evidence
its origins reach back even further,
to the dawn of civilization in Europe?
And what causes Olous to plunge beneath the waves?
NARRATOR: Ancient Olous,
a sunken metropolis at least 2,000 years old.
Theotokis Theodoulou is on a mission to trace
this great city back to its roots.
He wants to find out who is the first to settle here.
He investigates the shore just
2 miles from Olous's ruins.
This area is only accessible by boat, so has
remained largely untouched since the golden age of
ancient Greece.
Theotokis scours the ground for evidence of early settlers.
It's not long before he finds
a treasure trove of pottery shards.
It's Bronze Age, it's mainly second millennium BC.
These shapes and this kind of stuff,
this clay, it's very characteristic of the era.
NARRATOR: When archaeologists start to piece together some
fragments here,
they reveal pots with distinctive markings.
They date to the time of the Minoans,
Europe's first great civilization.
The particular shape of the vessel
and the supporting legs beneath it are
signs that this is a cooking pot.
Its discovery here suggests that the Minoans settle
in this sheltered cove and the nearby region.
Is there a connection between
Olous and the great Minoan empire?
Do the famous Minoans build Olous?
Artemis Karnava is an expert in Cretan history.
She wants to investigate
the link between the Minoans and ancient Olous.
She has come just 30 miles west
of Olous, to the magnificent Minoan palace of Knossos.
This is the seat of the government
and the people who ruled.
NARRATOR: Knossos is only uncovered by archaeologists
In 1878.
The sophistication of the Minoan civilization
unearthed here continues to astound experts.
We are still impressed by it, because before this thing
was constructed, there was nothing like it.
In the second millennium BCE,
the Minoans are living in palaces while
the people of Northern Europe are still in mud huts.
ARTEMIS: They exhibit technical expertise and richness
I think beyond imagination even for the period.
NARRATOR: Much of what we think of as
later Greek culture starts here with the Minoans.
This great palace is the setting
for the legend of the Minotaur,
a bloodthirsty mythical creature held
captive by the king of Crete.
Clues to an Olous connection could lie
in images that adorn the walls here.
Archeologists spend years piecing these
paintings together.
ARTEMIS: When they're put together and through the colors,
we get a glimpse of what
the people that lived at the time looked like.
NARRATOR: Frescoes across the Minoan Empire show
the lavish lifestyles of a cosmopolitan society.
ARTEMIS: They're very impressive, very delicate
closed sometimes, and very complicated.
NARRATOR: These exotic goods suggest the Minoans
have a gateway to the wider world.
And maritime motifs are a clue
the Minoans are expert seafarers.
Knossos is inland.
The Minoans need access to
the sea to launch their great expeditions.
Archaeologist Dimitris Karampas
is on a mission to find out if
Olous is a long lost Minoan port.
The ancient city is located on the western edge
of a large bay,
the Mirabello Gulf. -DIMITRIS: This gulf was
really important for people in antiquity.
The reason for that is, first of all,
it's the biggest one around Crete, while also, it is
supported with great chances for anchorage and shelters.
NARRATOR: The sheltered bay protects the ships of Olous.
It is ideal for the seafaring Minoans.
Crete's mountains make overland travel difficult,
so to get around their island,
the Minoans turn to the sea.
Before the Bronze Age,
ancient Cretans beach their boats in sheltered
sandy coves.
Eventually, ships grow larger to
haul vast treasures across the sea.
So Minoans seek out harbors where
they can anchor in deeper water.
Olous's natural harbor sits at
the northwestern tip of Crete's largest bay.
It's the ideal refuge for both small and large ships.
Three big surveys have taken place
in this part of Crete -- through them,
tens of sites have been identified,
mainly from the Minoan times.
NARRATOR: Olous is one of the last sites
of this area to be excavated.
Direct evidence of Minoans is yet to be unearthed here.
But the concentration of Minoan settlements
in this bay suggests it is likely.
It could be one of
the launch pads of Europe's first great civilization.
But what these Minoan boats export
from this bay is a long-standing puzzle.
The Minoan Empire becomes unimaginably wealthy.
What treasures do they exchange to gain such fortunes?
Can an ancient script reveal their secret cargo?
NARRATOR: Olous, Crete.
This submerged port city has ties to the mighty
Minoan Empire.
Artemis Karnava is on a mission to find out
how the Minoan Empire
uses ports such as Olous to become so rich.
The nearby Minoan capital, Knossos,
is covered in vivid images of the citizens'
lavish lifestyles.
How were they able to obtain all these precious objects?
What were they giving in return?
NARRATOR: A chance discovery made 100 years ago
could hold the answers.
When archaeologists first excavate Knossos,
they discover the ruins of a small
annex in the southwest part of the palace.
Under a layer of black soil and ash,
they unearthed the remains of an oval terracotta chest.
Inside, they find over 30 baked
clay tablets packed together in rows.
Strange inscriptions are etched on their surfaces.
What mysterious code is written on these tablets
and others found across the Minoan Empire?
Could they reveal what the Minoans are exchanging at Olous?
Artemis examines the tablets to look
for clues hidden in the tiny symbols.
They make up one of the world's
earliest scripts, known as Linear B.
It was the first writing system that was used to
record Greek, the Greek language.
NARRATOR: These tablets are a remarkable record of
financial accounts from over 3,000 years ago.
ARTEMIS: We can now take images.
And once you have the tablet on your computer screen,
you can light the tablet from different angles.
Chances are that I would be able
to read them better than I would
if I had the actual tablet in my hand.
NARRATOR: Artemis can decode and read Linear B.
Each symbol represents a different object or commodity.
Artemis spots one that stands out, repeated again and again
across the tablet,
the symbol for sheep.
They keep flocks of sheep.
So we have the registration of these flocks.
And we think the main reason for that is
that they wanted to be able to collect their wool,
and the wool was the basis to make thread.
Thread was the basis for producing textiles.
NARRATOR: Textiles are a highly valuable commodity
in ancient times.
But Artemis believes wool alone doesn't
explain the immense wealth of Minoans.
They are in a league greater
than any European civilization before them.
Other Linear B tablets show
another prominent word repeated many times.
Purpurea.
The word "purple" comes from this very ancient word.
NARRATOR: This detail is key.
The Minoans create luxurious purple dyed textiles.
These textiles are traded across the Mediterranean
to Greece, Syria, and Egypt.
Many centuries after the Minoans,
the Romans call it "imperial purple," and it's worn only by
elite members of society.
Even to this day,
purple robes are still associated with royalty.
The source of this valuable dye is a puzzle.
Answers lie on a Olous's shoreline.
Specialists from the Hellenic Center for Marine Research
believe Olous could be the source of the purple dye.
Just up the coast from the underwater city
lie fragments of ancient shells
alongside the Minoan pottery.
They belong to a type of sea snail called murex.
Murex turn purple when they die.
Olous is an ideal habitat for these snails,
from ancient times to this day.
The team collect the murex to study them up close.
Eva Chatzinikolaou is an expert in these unique creatures.
She investigates how the murex produce the rare pigment.
Her first step is to dissect a dead specimen.
NARRATOR: Eva believes the mucus secreted from
the snail's gland is the pigment's key ingredient.
NARRATOR: The Minoans add this mucus to water
to create large quantities of precious dye.
The discarded shells around Olous suggest this area may
be part of a 3,500-year-old Minoan murex industry.
The Minoans make the most of Crete's mountainous landscape,
rearing vast flocks of sheep to
provide wool for their textile industry.
They shear the animals for their fleeces,
then dye the wool and weave it into expensive fine cloth.
They export the valuable textiles from Mirabello Bay to
distant shores of the Mediterranean and import
copper and gold.
Skilled artisans at Knossos fashion
these imported precious metals
and gemstones into weapons and beautiful objects.
The Minoans dominate the Mediterranean from
their base on Crete for a millennium.
But in 1600 BCE, their fate suddenly changes.
The volcanic eruption on nearby Santorini generates
a tsunami that destroys Minoan settlements across the island,
including Olous.
It triggers the end of the mighty Minoan Empire,
but it is not the end for Olous.
How does a new civilization rebuild this city?
And does another even greater catastrophe lie ahead?
NARRATOR: Ancient Olous,
a site submerged in Crete's largest harbor.
The island's cities are wiped out by
a colossal volcanic eruption in the Minoan era.
But Crete rises from the ashes, and Olous reaches its peak
in 300 BCE, a millennium after the collapse
of the Minoan civilization
and long before the rise of Rome.
Theotokis Theodoulou
wants to investigate the island's revival
and the new golden era of Olous.
He looks for remnants close to shore that
could shed light on the city's glory days.
Theotokis's team use geophysical scanning equipment to
detect ruins hidden beneath the sea floor.
The results reveal an incredible maze of
ancient buildings.
THEOTOKIS: We are probably in the center of
the city, and that means public important buildings.
NARRATOR: These submerged ruins form the heart of Olous in
its heyday In the 4th century BCE.
2,300 years ago, the citizens of Olous come
to this main square to worship their gods.
They build a sanctuary for Apollo, another for Zeus,
and a mysterious temple with a wooden statue
of a female deity.
Ancient texts reveal she wields
a double-bladed axe in each hand
and is surrounded by vicious wild animals.
Who is this fearsome warrior goddess?
And what can she reveal about ancient Olous at its peak?
Dimitris Karampas is on a mission to find out.
He treks to the neighboring ancient city of Lato.
The city is high in the hills
and avoids the rising water levels that submerge Olous.
Its ruins are more intact and easier to explore.
Lato may reveal important clues
about ancient Olous in its prime.
He scours the ruins at the heart of the city.
DIMITRIS: Usually, the temples were located at the top
of the acropolis, and that's exactly what happened
with Lato.
Here, we have a temple standing at the top of the city,
and it was definitely different to the one
at ancient Olous.
NARRATOR: Artifacts unearthed here
reveal Lato's temple is dedicated to Eileithyia,
the goddess of childbirth.
But the mysterious wooden statue in the temple of Olous
depicts an entirely different goddess for the people
to worship.
Ancient coins could reveal her identity,
and uncover more about the city.
Such coins are often decorated with the city's chief deities.
Dimitris takes a closer look at one found in Olous.
We see a feminine figure, and we think
that this was the goddess Vritomartis.
NARRATOR: Olous's chief deity is Vritomartis,
the Greek goddess of hunting and mountains.
The two cities, Lato and Olous,
are only 7 miles apart but worship different
gods and operate within their own small worlds.
By 300 BCE,
Crete consists of over 50 independent city-states,
each with their own coins, gods, and laws.
Cities like Olous
and Lato fight in a constant cycle of war
and peace as they compete for land and resources.
Cretans in search of a better fortune beyond their shores
raid merchant ships in the Mediterranean and Aegean.
Coastal cities like Olous benefit from
the piracy by selling the loot that they capture.
We should imagine a divided island,
an island where endemic warfare was happening.
NARRATOR: Thousands of people cluster behind Olous's walls
to protect themselves from their neighbors,
but the city is still not safe.
The Roman republic is rising in the West.
It defeats an alliance of Greek city-states in 146 BCE
and looks to consolidate its power over the rest of
the Mediterranean.
What happens to Olous when
the Romans turn their attention to Crete?
Do the island's pirates meet their match?
NARRATOR: Olous,
a thriving city-state and pirate
stronghold on the coast of Crete.
In the 2nd century BCE,
the Roman republic has its eye on the island.
Olous is in its golden age -- its natural harbor and position
in the Mediterranean Sea
make it a hotbed of piracy.
The city grows rich from looting ships
and levying charges on the sales of looted treasures,
but Rome is approaching from the west.
Are Olous's days numbered?
Theotokis Theodoulou believes the island's position is
the key to its allure for the Romans.
THEOTOKIS: They wanted to secure this important
nautical route that was passing through Crete.
NARRATOR: The island lies on the route
between Rome and Egypt,
the source of the republic's wheat.
Access to this food source is critical to Rome.
Wheat is the staple of the Roman diet.
Rome, as a big city, had the need to feed their people.
NARRATOR: The Romans need to secure their grain highway.
But Babis Fassoulas,
from the Natural History Museum of Crete,
believes there could be another draw for the Romans.
He heads to the hills above Olous to investigate.
NARRATOR: This cliff is made of whetstone,
one of the hardest natural materials in the world.
The Romans could have an important use for it.
NARRATOR: Babis puts a piece of local whetstone to the test.
First, he adds olive oil.
We use the oil to polish smoothly
and without causing big scratches to the blade
if big crystals exist.
NARRATOR: The small crystals wear away the metal
into the perfect blade.
We get a blade, which is like a razor,
so we could even...
NARRATOR: The blade is so sharp,
it can slice through paper with ease.
Sharp blades are crucial in ancient times,
especially in warfare.
It would be very important for an army
to have quite sharpened weapons.
This would make them more
effective and better during the battle.
NARRATOR: The valuable whetstone and its location on the grain
super highway makes Olous a prime target for the Romans.
A Roman coin discovered amongst the ruins of
Olous is evidence the Romans make their move.
Coastal cities of Crete are the perfect home for pirates
but are vulnerable to Roman attack from the sea.
Across the island,
Romans catapult missiles over the walls
to destroy the cities.
They drop masonry in harbor entrances
to trap the local pirates' boats in.
Finally, the Romans set the cities on fire.
They sweep across the island, eventually reaching Olous.
The Romans are quick to conquer the city
and make it part of their vast empire.
Olous's golden age of independence is over.
But the fabric of the city lives on.
Olous survives once again and flourishes under the Romans.
Ancient texts reveal whetstone quarrying
continues throughout the Roman rule and beyond.
But today, Olous lies in ruins, 6 feet beneath the sea.
What triggers the downfall of the resilient ancient city?
Could clues in a nearby site reveal the greatest
threat to Olous is yet to come?
NARRATOR: Olous.
The ancient city sinks 6 feet under the sea.
Babis Fassoulas
is on a mission to find out what causes
the final collapse of the city after it withstands centuries
of upheaval.
He heads along the coast to the ancient site of Phalasarna.
This Cretan port dates to the same time as
Olous, but its ruins are intact and not submerged.
Evidence here could shed light on the fate of Olous.
Babis explores an ancient stairway carved into
the shoreline.
It leads to a colossal stone tank,
where locals farm fish 2,000 years ago.
A peculiar feature catches his attention.
BABIS: What we see here, which is very impressive are
those cracks, which are developed
on this direction, cutting
also the base of the tank, continuing towards the sea.
NARRATOR: The only force strong enough to cause
such destruction is an earthquake of
epic proportions.
BABIS: Greece is one of the most geologically active areas
of Europe, and, of course, Crete
is one of the most seismic areas.
NARRATOR: In 365 CE, a monumental earthquake
strikes just off the coast of Phalasarna.
BABIS: The strongest earthquake that ever happened in
the Mediterranean area, of about eight Richter scale.
NARRATOR: Phalasarna is severely damaged,
but the tremors are not the only destructive force.
The epicenter of the earthquake lies off the coast,
so the underwater shocks trigger a second deadly force,
a tsunami.
BABIS: There are estimations that, in many parts,
this tsunami may have reached the heights of 20 meters.
NARRATOR: A 65-foot-tall wave would tower
over the cities in the eastern Mediterranean.
Phalasarna is hit by a tsunami and earthquake,
but it is finished off by a third natural phenomenon.
We are standing at an amazing place.
We can even see here the holes
of the rocks, where the ships were coming,
and they are putting their ropes.
NARRATOR: These mooring holes are part of the ancient harbor,
but they lie 16 feet above sea level today.
This reveals that the earthquake causes
a dramatic shift in the Earth's crust,
lifting the entire city of Phalasarna up.
In a surprising twist of fate,
the upheaval lifts the harbor high
above the eroding waves to this day.
So the site is preserved for millennia, frozen in time.
But Olous now lies in ruins underwater.
Theotokis Theodoulou
wants to find out if this earthquake and tsunami caused
the submergence of Olous or if the city escapes
these catastrophes.
Just underwater, beside today's shoreline, lies
a mysterious manmade semicircle.
It lines up with a set of ruins on shore.
Theotokis plots the floor plan of
this large, partially submerged building.
The apse is this semicircular wall,
and it's very characteristic for the Christian
church buildings.
NARRATOR: This church is built a few
hundred years after the great earthquake.
The city was still alive until
at least then, until sixth century.
NARRATOR: It is incredible proof that Olous survives
the biggest earthquake and tsunami ever to hit
the Mediterranean.
In 365 CE, an earthquake of biblical
proportions strikes beneath the ocean just west of Crete.
The tremors generate a giant tsunami that reaches as far
as Alexandria in Egypt, where it hurls ships
2 miles inland.
The devastating quake buckles the Earth's crust,
raising Crete 30 feet above water
and flattening large parts of the island.
But Olous is sheltered in a bay in the east of Crete
and is spared from the worst of the waves.
Olous survives the ancient tsunami
and continues to prosper for many centuries
through the Christian era.
Its watery demise must be a more recent calamity.
Babis thinks an explanation lies in continental
scale changes over the last thousand years.
Each year, Crete and Africa
move 2 inches towards each other.
This leads to a surprising phenomenon.
As the island of Crete is migrating towards the south
and it is stretched,
some parts fall down and appear today under the sea.
Probably this is the reason that Olous is found now
under the sea.
NARRATOR: Olous survives Roman conquest, tsunamis,
and earthquakes,
but global tectonic shifts finally cause the city to sink.
It is abandoned by the 8th century CE.
Now, it is hidden beneath the waves,
but new developments in underwater archaeology
will continue to reveal its secrets.
THEOTOKIS: We expect further investigation and excavation
to uncover the mysteries of the city.
NARRATOR: Olous,
a vibrant port on this isolated island in the Mediterranean,
home to 10,000 people who worship a fearless
warrior goddess.
This great walled city survives for over a thousand years.
It transforms from a gateway for the famous Minoans to
a pirate hub and is the ultimate prize for
the invading Romans.
But the Earth's great untamable
forces ultimately seal its fate.
Olous sinks beneath the waves, lying in
wait for future archaeologists to unearth even more about
its past.