This new space, designed to protect these important mosaics while making them accessible to the public, was created through the efforts of former Minister Ioannis M. Varvitsiotis, with significant support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). The design development was funded by the A.G. Leventis Foundation. The Ministry of Culture and Sports approved the design and supervised the implementation of the project.
Τhe “House of Mosaics” constitutes a unique architectural space, the story of which begins in the Roman imperial period and continues to this today. The two mosaics, depicting the abduction of Europe and Orpheus playing his music, are elaborate floors of two spaces of adjacent luxurious roman villas, dating to the second half of the 3rd and in the beginning of the 4th c. AD, respectively. The erection of the two buildings, in the late 19th century, which constitute in essence the new “House” of the ancient mosaic pavements, was of catalytic importance for their protection. Within the framework of a donation by Stavros Niarchos Foundation, in the year 2020, the structure was renovated and is now opening to the public.
This new space, designed to protect these important mosaics while making them accessible to the public, was created through the efforts of former Minister Ioannis M. Varvitsiotis, with significant support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). The design development was funded by the A.G. Leventis Foundation. The Ministry of Culture and Sports approved the design and supervised the implementation of the project.
The mosaic pavement of Europa was found by chance, in 1872, in the garden of Antonis Foustanos, at Dioskouron street. It was the first mosaic pavement unearthed in the newly established city of Sparta. The State, through the appropriate Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs and Public Education, takes immediate action by sending to Sparta the Curator of Antiquities Panagiotis Stamatakis, in order to pursue the purchase of the property and the protection of the mosaic. In 1881, for the purpose of protecting and highlighting it, a peristyle building with a wooden roof and tile coverage was built. The building imitates the plan of a house of neoclassical type.
A few years later, in 1884, the second mosaic pavement with the depiction of Orheus was uncovered on the adjacent property where a winery existed. This property was also expropriated so that the mosaic would be protected from the winery owner’s intention to transform the space into a wineshop placing tables and chairs on the mosaic. Thus, the protection covering was extended and included the new mosaic. The erection of the two protection coverings, which constitutes in essence the new “House” of the ancient mosaic pavements, was of catalytic importance for the protection of the ancient mosaic pavements, though it did not allow the further expansion of the excavation research.
Therefore, neither the exact character and function of the spaces they decorated was adequately substantiated nor their possible relevance. However, latest archaeological data indicate their attribution to two adjacent wealthy roman houses (domus). The mosaic pavement of Europa can be correlated with the mosaic pavements of two spaces of a house extended to the east, while the mosaic pavement of Orpheus in all likelihood was part of a bath (balaneion) of another house excavated to the south, under Dioskouron street.
The mosaic pavements of Europa and Orpheus constitute brilliant testimonies of the prosperity of Sparta during the Roman Imperial period and prove its privileged position in the empire, as a free city. Thanks to the catalytic role that the Spartan Gaius Julius Eurycles played in the development of close relations between Sparta and Rome, the city enjoys significant economic and social benefits. Roman emperors’ admiration for Sparta as well as their visits to the city result in the embellishment of Sparta with important public works. Excavations at the northern part of the city, especially south and southwest of the Acropolis, have brought to light luxurious roman villas with atria, gardens with waterworks, propylae with marble architectural elements and spaces decorated with mosaic pavements and frescoes. A total of 170 mosaic pavements have been excavated at 128 locations within the city of Sparta, dating from Hellenistic (3rd, 2nd centuries BC) to the Early Byzantine period.
More analytically, during the second half of the 3rd and early 4th centuries AD the production of mosaic floors in Sparta presents an impressive increase. During this period two local workshops for producing mosaics were active in Sparta, creating magnificent pieces of art. The mosaic pavements are distinguished for their synthesis, their rich colors and their exquisite rendering of themes. More than half of the mosaic pavements are decorated entirely with geometrical motifs. Nevertheless, the usual geometrical motifs of the Roman mosaic pavements are enriched by the Spartan mosaicists with new elements, rendering them to more than simple decorative bordering panels of the figurative scenes.
Roman period second half of the 3rd century A.D.
Mosaic pavement with the depiction of the abduction of Europa by Zeus transformed into a bull. Winged cupids hold the veil of the young woman.
Roman period early 4th century A.D.
Mosaic pavement with the depiction of Orpheus playing the lyre and charming the animals (mammals, birds and reptiles).
Roman period second half of the 3rd century A.D.
Mosaic pavement with the depiction of the abduction of Europa by Zeus transformed into a bull. Winged cupids hold the veil of the young woman.
Roman period early 4th century A.D.
Mosaic pavement with the depiction of Orpheus playing the lyre and charming the animals (mammals, birds and reptiles).
