US film stars Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson visited the archeological excavations recently at Despotiko, the uninhabited island next to Antiparos in the Cyclades.
Officially now Greek citizens, and lovers of all things Greek, Hanks and Wilson, were on the island where recent excavations brought to light a rectangular construction dating to the 8th-5th century BC, which was part of a water collection and treatment system.
“The Sanctuary of Apollo at Despotiko was a large naval base for the supply of ships in the centre of the Cyclades and had a huge water supply system,” said Yiannos Kouragios of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades.
The central tank (7.5mx5.5mx3.8m) was used in the Archaic and Classical periods. It underwent alterations in late antiquity and in Byzantine times.
Interestingly enough, Despotiko was the island implicated in a 2018 story which alleged that Tom Hanks had made a donation towards the archeological works. It was later proved to be fake, with bot Hanks and Wilson denying they had made any such donation.
Ancient building discovered at Despotiko island’s Apollo sanctuary