Dimitrios shipwreck, Abandoned cargo ship on Valtaki Beach, Greece

The Dimitrios shipwreck sits on Valtaki Beach and is a former cargo vessel exposed to the elements. The structure displays steel plates and bent metal embedded in the sand and shallow waters of the Aegean Sea.

Built in Denmark in 1950 as the Klintholm for the DFDS line and used mainly between Copenhagen and Antwerp, the ship was sold to Greece in 1965 and renamed Dimitrios. A further sale in 1979 brought the name Cornilia under the owner Anepap Ltd. After the captain's hospitalisation at Gythio in December 1980, the vessel was chained in port, moved to the roads in June 1981, and torn loose in a storm on 23 December 1981 to strand at Valtaki.

The ship is known today by its earlier name, Dimitrios, though it was renamed Cornilia in 1979; the newer name faded after the stranding. Local accounts link the vessel to cigarette smuggling between Turkey and Italy, and say it was set on fire to destroy evidence. Visitors photograph the hull from the sand at Valtaki, about 5 km from the port of Gythio.

The beach is reachable on foot and provides access to the structure from various angles. Visit in good weather when the sandy approach is safest and the rusting metal is most visible.

Rumors of shadowy trading activities surround this vessel's past. Despite decades of decay, many details about the actual circumstances of abandonment remain unclear.