REPLICA OF LEGENDARY ARGO RETRACES JASON’S JOURNEY

A replica of the Argo, the ship which, according to legend, carried Jason and the Argonauts on their quest to Colchis for the Golden Fleece, has been retracing part of the journey after setting sail from Volos, Greece, and will complete its two-month voyage in Venice this month. Travelling between 10 and 15 nautical miles a day, by the time the trip is completed the vessel will have docked at 23 cites, many of which are in modern-day Albania, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. The ship, which has been six years in preparation, was built with Bronze Age tools to the specifications of ancient Greek shipbuilding including a simple sail with wooden mast and space for 25 rowers on each side. The crew are from all 27 European Union member-states and, by the time the trip is completed, it will have sailed a total distance of 1,200 nautical miles (2,222 kilometres). The Argo was originally scheduled to replicate the Argonauts’ legendary journey to the Black Sea kingdom of Colchis, in today’s Georgia. However, since the Turkish government refused to guarantee the Argo safe passage through the Bosporus Strait, its final route was changed to retrace part of the Argonauts’ return trip. The replica ship will be housed in a museum after returning from its journey.

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