Nestled in the azure waters of the North Aegean Sea lies a little-known treasure: the archipelago of Fournoi. This enchanting group of islands, positioned strategically between Ikaria, Samos, and Patmos, is a sanctuary of tranquility, history, and natural beauty.

Fournoi Korseon, commonly called Fournoi, is an archipelago steeped in history. Anciently known as Corsiae or Korsiai, the islands have been a crossroads of civilizations for millennia. The main island of Fournoi and the isle of Thymaina are the only inhabited islands, with Agios Minas Island forming part of this captivating complex.

The archipelago’s past is vividly etched into its landscape, with archaeological finds dating back to the Ionians, Classical, and Hellenistic periods. Visitors can explore the Cyclopean wall with traces of an Acropolis on the Hill of Ai Giorgis, the ruins of an ancient temple at Kamari, and the remains of homes submerged beneath the sea.

A four-year underwater research effort conducted in the waters of the Fournoi archipelago revealed the existence of a previously unknown vibrant reserve of marine cultural heritage. This discovery dramatically changed the perception of how unconsciously we preserve the Aegean’s insular microcosms.

Underwater surveys for locating ancient shipwrecks are typically carried out in areas linked to major coastal economic centers or final destinations for antiquity’s consumer products, such as large urban centers. However, the role often played by shorter-range intermediate stations in isolated and historically obscure regions must be noticed.

Ships, functioning as mobile autonomous units for transporting people and goods, navigate the aquatic environment based on their micro-economy and internal checks.

Currently, no comparative data exists from other islets or island clusters in the Eastern Aegean. No other island complex has been systematically explored to the same extent as the Fournoi archipelago. This lack of comparative data raises intriguing questions: Are the abundant shipwrecks at the bottom of Fournoi an exceptional case, or are there other areas that hold similar numbers of wrecks? The uneven application of underwater research throughout the Aegean further complicates the matter, potentially misleading us with the small number of shipwrecks noted in the vicinity of Fournoi areas like Arkioi, Lipsi, or Agathonisi.

During the 1960s, the finding of a total of seventeen ancient and newer shipwrecks in an extremely limited space was reported a little south of Fournoi, on the islet of Yassı Ada in Turkey, on the mainland island of Halicarnassus, and opposite the islands of Pserimos and Kalolimnos. These ships likely fell victim to a specific, deadly drought, and similar droughts scattered throughout the Eastern Aegean undoubtedly claimed their toll from ancient navigation.

The case of Fournoi, however, is different. The archipelago’s cartography presents little navigational risks of this kind, and the gathering of many shipwrecks on the coasts follows an entirely different pattern. Vessel losses seem more related to capacity and changeable weather rather than static risks lurking below sea level. It’s important to note that while static naval risks always carry an increased risk, the accumulation of shipwrecks around them doesn’t necessarily indicate increased shipping traffic at those points.

This phenomenon is somewhat reversed in the Fournoi archipelago: Large numbers of shipwrecks are found along coasts that otherwise have low-risk factors, with the main risk being predictable. Ancient mariners could program their journeys based on experience and regular weather patterns, which followed a kind of periodic cycle that allowed for calculations.

Local meteorological phenomena undoubtedly played a role. Eddies and wind diversions within a rich and varied geographical background can create unruly conditions, leading ships to their demise in mainly closed spaces with limited reaction times and maneuvering potential. These local phenomena are clearly present in Fournoi and sometimes manifest themselves in very intense ways; however, the disadvantages seem to be balanced by the multiple possibilities of safe mooring and anchoring.

All these factors indicate that the Fournoi wrecks are due much more to the large number of ships that sailed in the archipelago than to the danger of the coasts themselves.

The extent to which these shipwrecks are related to the development of a naval economy in Fournoi during ancient times, especially during the Roman and Late Roman periods, remains unknown. The content of terrestrial archaeological deposits in Fournoi remains untouched, and little is known about the population data, the economy, and the island’s diet during those times.

However, imagining that the passage and regular anchorage of so many ships would have left the indigenous population unaffected is extremely difficult. The locals of Fournoi’s occupation with nautical jobs or seafaring professions that characterized the island in the last century also resulted from the very morphology of the complex and the necessities created by the limited resources provided by the island itself.

A prosperous community in Kamari, around which the largest concentration of shipwrecks and isolated finds was observed, seems likely based on the visible foundations of buildings preserved on the beach, the abundant pottery sherds scattered in the surrounding fields, and the presence of architectural elements that point to the existence of an early Christian basilica and an older sanctuary, possibly in the area where the church of Taxiarches stands today. These indications suggest the existence of an organized naval station in this location, which could have provided services to passing ships and functioned as a “pilgrimage” site on a religious level, where ancient mariners could commission a tribute in anticipation of a successful journey, the fulfillment of their business pursuits, and a safe return home.

At the same time, it’s possible to imagine an informal market operating on the beach of Kamari, where transactions were carried out exempt from the tariffs in effect at significant ports, and news and information about the broader market were exchanged. The existence of such a station, further supported by the presence of several dozen anchors outside the settlement, remains to be confirmed by excavations.

Future advancements in underwater archaeological research in the Fournoi archipelago will reveal further aspects of this place’s history and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the broader maritime history of the eastern Aegean.