Traditional Boats Laboratory

The Traditional Boats Lab has been operating since September 2015 in the warehouse area of the University of Cyprus. The purpose of the Lab is to offer students the opportunity to understand the basic principles of ancient and traditional shipbuilding, through practical experience. The students practice shipbuilding and learn the use of shipbuilding lines through the manufacture of scaled wooden models.
The Lab also contributes in the protection and conservation of the maritime cultural heritage of Cyprus. Traditional boats - the last surviving witnesses of shipbuilding evolution of thousands of years - are systematically studied and recorded by the students.
The Lab, with the purpose of studying nautical tradition, has taken action to rescue traditional Cypriot vessels. Traditional wooden boats of various types are kept at the Lab and are preserved by practising the old techniques. The Lab also has a collection of rare objects and tools of traditional shipbuilding and fishing, some of which are already exhibited at the Museum of the Sea in Ayia Napa.
Also, the Lab is constructing copies of traditional Cypriot boats and is organizing various workshops with the involvement the stakeholders such as old craftsmanship, the fishing community and the local museum.