Amyntaio Roman Villa
About
Archaeologists digging near ancient Petres in 2017 uncovered one of the largest Roman villas found in Greece, a complex eventually reaching more than 5,100 square meters and roughly 96 rooms. Its Europa Hall mosaic names the owners, a couple called Alexandros and Memmia, in a floor inscription. The villa dates to the Late Roman period, from the 2nd through 5th centuries AD, so its earliest rooms rose after Trajan died in 117 CE. Greece began a 2.5-million-euro restoration of the site in 2026.
What happened here
A working estate with a comfortable house attached, and the proportions vary with how rich the owner is and how often he visits. The farm side has presses for oil and wine, threshing floors, storage sunk into the ground, stables and quarters for the workforce. The residential side has baths, dining rooms sited for the view, mosaics, and a garden with water in it. A manager runs the place year-round and reports; the owner arrives for the vintage and for the summer. Produce goes to market or to the owner's town house, and the accounts are kept in detail. Some villas are pure retreat with no farm at all, built on a cliff or a lake specifically to be looked at from a boat.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →