Intersection between Archontaki Street and Venizelou Street, Chania - 2013

Intersection between Archontaki Street and Venizelou Street, Chania. Katerina Tzanakaki (ΚΕ’ ΕΠΚΑ) reports on works conducted at this site.

During excavation, a mosaic was rediscovered that had previously been dug in 1994. A trench was dug around the extent of the floor, where it was found that an ancient wall had stood on the surface. A modern sewage pipe also overlaid the mosaic floor, which had damaged part of the ancient wall.

Excavation continued to the N to uncover more of the mosaic. The ancient wall was oriented NS and was covered in plaster. Its total extent is unknown as it extends underneath the modern pavement. To the N is has been partially destroyed, perhaps in the Byzantine or Venetian periods. It was found directly on natural marl limestone at a depth of 1.20m, and built of mudstone.

The mosaic was approximately 0.05–0.07m thick, with smaller and larger cracks in places. There is evidence of repair work in antiquity. There appears to have been a stone pipe dividing the floor in two under the wall, oriented EW. Next to the pipe, the lower part of a jug were found and fragments of bronze tools. A small amount of pottery from the Classical through Venetian periods was found, and a small foot of a marble sculpture.

The main decoration of the mosaic appears to have been geometric and floral motifs. An octagonal circle was surrounded by small drinking vessels, and a rosette motif. To the N of the pipeline (Fig. 1) another decorative motif was found. It is thought that the mosaic floor that decorated the atrium of a Roman house would have had a long duration of use, as it had been repaired in ancient times.

The floor plan of the building extends W to Archontaki Street, where works were conducted in 2000 and another part of the mosaic floor was found at the same depth. To the E was an ancient building cut by a large pit and excavated in 1994, dating to the Byzantine period. To the N on El. Venizelou Street, in 2000 walls oriented NE-SE were found. The final destruction of the building is estimated from glazed pottery between the tenth and fifteenth century AD. It is part of the E residential district of Kydonia.