We’ve heard about this one before and it’s back (coincidentally, so is the piece which is below this one). Excerpts from a piece in the Guardian:
Some of the world’s most exciting sunken treasures could soon be on view after Egypt confirmed plans to build a giant underwater museum in the Mediterranean.
But as preparation begins on the site of Cleopatra’s Palace in Alexandria, funding and technical problems are proving as divisive and controversial as the famed queen herself.
[…]
Remnants of Queen Cleopatra’s palace complex are also submerged beneath the waves, after the island on which it stood fell victim to earthquakes in the 5th century.
Now ambitious but controversial plans are under way to open up this unique site via an immersed fibreglass tunnel which would enable close-up viewing of the underwater monuments. The designs were drawn up by the French architect Jacques Rougerie, a veteran of water-based construction projects, and have been backed by the United Nations cultural agency Unesco.
Next month a detailed technical survey will be launched. “If all goes according to plan, construction will begin in early 2010 and be completed within two and half years,” says Ariel Fuchs, a scientific director at Rougerie’s firm.
The idea is also being promoted by the high-profile marine archaeologist Franck Goddio, who is currently touring Europe with a selection of artefacts already dredged up from the Alexandrian coastline.
Yet the project is running into obstacles. Funding for the museum, which will cost up to $140m (£98m), has not yet been secured.
I hae me doots about the feasibility of this one … I think Goddio could be doing something more useful.
rogueclassicism 