CLEAR WORDS, CRYSTAL SOUNDS
- The 5th Marmaris International Culture and Arts Festival will take place from 2 to 12 May 2026.Each edition of the festival focuses on one of the valuable yet still relatively unknown archaeological sites on the Bozburun Peninsula. In 2026, MKSF26 is dedicated to the Serçe Limanı Glass Wreck, one of the world’s most significant discoveries in maritime archaeology, which is currently on display at the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology.
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Festival Program:
CLEAR WORDS, CRYSTAL SOUNDS
“In the year 1025, a Byzantine merchant ship made her way along the southern coast of Anatolia, laden with a precious cargo of glass. Seeking refuge from fierce easterly winds, she entered Sparrow Harbour—but before a second anchor could be set, the ship was driven onto the rocks and sank, coming to rest 33 meters beneath the sea, where she would lie hidden for nearly a thousand years.”
The remainder of this tragic story, presumably told from today’s perspective, is the Glass Wreck, discovered and excavated between 1977 and 1979. Now exhibited at the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, it stands as one of the most significant discoveries in nautical archaeology.
Coinciding with the 1000th anniversary of its sinking in 2026, the MKSF26 programme is dedicated to the Glass Wreck. As part of our Festival Programme, we celebrate the lasting cultural, historical and maritime heritage of the Glass Wreck, and return the story of this ill-fated ship to the waters where it was lost.
For more information about the Glass Wreck and its valuable cargo, we recommend visiting the website of the INA (Institute of Nautical Archaeology) Bodrum Research Centre , which also houses the Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum.