Underwater ‘tank’ turns out to be ancient statue on seafloor near Italy, photos show
Surrounded by muck and covered in grime, a large object sat on the seafloor off the southern coast of Italy. Locals knew of the object, and nautical maps identified it as a “tank.”
But, as a few skeptical scuba divers discovered, it was something else entirely.
The submerged object sat about 30 feet underwater off the coast of San Leone, Sicily, according to a Feb. 1 Facebook post from BCsicilia, a volunteer cultural organization. On maps, the object was labeled “vasca,” which means “tank” in Italian.
Gaetano Lino and a few other scuba divers with BCsicilia weren’t convinced. They suspected there was more to this underwater artifact, so they studied it over a series of dives in October 2022, the organization said.
Looking closer, the divers identified the submerged object as an ancient marble statue of a prancing horse.
The statue measures about 6 feet wide and about 5 feet tall, the organization said. Its style matches the decoration of ancient Greek temples, and it likely came from a temple dedicated to Zeus.
The exact age of the statue and how it ended up underwater is unknown.
Local officials and BCsicilia scuba divers brought the statue to the surface. A photo shows the crusty, brown statue sitting on land.
The organization did not specify what will be done with the statue, but it will likely undergo a preservation process.
San Leone is on the island of Sicily and about 320 miles south of Rome.
Google Translate and Facebook Translate were used to translate the Facebook post from BCsicilia.
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