The vessel exploded when it was attacked by a British warship 25 kilometres off Cartagena, Colombia, killing up to 600 people on board.
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“This has an enormous archeological value for Colombia and for all of humanity”, Santos said, announcing that a museum will be built in Cartagena to showcase the discovery.
Experts have said that if the size of the haul is confirmed the sunken cargo could be worth £1 billion.
Colombian officials would not reveal the exact whereabouts of the wreck, but Mr Santos said the find “constitutes one of the greatest – if not the biggest, as some say – discoveries of submerged patrimony in the history of mankind”.
The ship was sunk after being outgunned by a British ship as it left in the Caribbean, according to a history of the San Jose published by Sea Search Armada, a marine salvaging company that claims it found the ship in 1981.
The ship, commanded by Admiral Jose Fernandez de Santillan was one of three ships that was on its way to Spain with riches obtained in the Nueva Granada colony, now Colombia.
What’s more, the ship was carrying gold, silver, gems and jewels that some estimate could be worth as much as $17 billion.
The San Jose was spotted by deep sea camera sent down by experts to examine the wreckage ahead of a planned salvage operation.
Santos said in a tweet Friday the details will be given at a news conference in the coastal city of Cartagena.
Its not exactly clear who is entitled to claim the treasure because of a long-running legal row.
On its Facebook page, SSA says it is managed by IOTA Partners, a USA limited partnership formed in 1988 to “provide management and working capital to pursue the rights of SSA investors in the face of efforts by the Government of Colombia to illegally confiscate SSA’s finds”.
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In 2011 an American court declared the galleon to be the property of the Colombian state.
