Vasilissis Olgas Avenue - Athens - 2025

Rescue excavations in Athens have produced exciting and significant finds during 2024–25. On Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, a large Roman-era complex was uncovered near the statue of Lord Byron, a part of the city expanded eastward under the emperor Hadrian (Fig. 1). The site includes more than 60 rooms organized around a peristyle courtyard, in a building approximately 68 m long and 11 m wide. Excavations revealed three construction phases: an initial 2nd-century AD phase built with large limestone blocks and mud mortar; a stronger rebuild after the 267 AD invasion by the Heruli, using reused blocks, bricks and lime mortar; and a Late Antiquity phase featuring simpler structures made from reused fragments and mud. A now-visible semicircular arcade with a mosaic floor dating to the early 5th century AD — previously noted in the 19th century, lies east of the Byron statue. Beneath the Roman complex a 10-metre-wide defensive ditch from the 4th century BC (from the line of the Themistoclean Wall) was found, including walls likely part of an ancient city gate bridge; nearby a courtyard with a rock-hewn well and descending steps was also identified. A destruction layer from the 3rd–4th centuries AD contained roof tiles, pottery fragments, cooking vessels and colored mortar. The find contributes to a growing picture of the long-term occupation of the area (from Sub-Mycenaean times to modern Athens), and a plan is underway to transform the site into an open-air archaeological space along Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, with pedestrian walkways, green zones and a viewing path connecting it visually to monuments such as the Zappeion and the Acropolis of Athens.