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Casa Romana - Kos island

Casa Romana

Casa Romana is one of the most important historical monuments on the Greek island of Kos. This beautiful, restored villa is located in the heart of the capital of Kos and gives visitors a glimpse into the life of the wealthy Roman aristocracy in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. The villa continues to impress today with its magnificent architecture and the wonderful mosaics and frescoes that decorate its rooms and inner courtyards.

Casa Romana is a carefully restored Roman villa located in the capital of Kos.The Roman house dates from the 2nd to 3rd century AD, when the island of Kos was part of the Roman Empire, and today it is an important testament to the richness and sophistication of the Roman culture that once flourished here.

Casa Romana was discovered during archaeological excavations in the 1930s. It is a large, luxurious town house that was probably the home of a wealthy Roman family. The house was built on the foundations of older Hellenistic buildings and its architectural style shows typical elements of Roman architecture, such as the spacious atrium, the peristyle and the magnificent mosaics that decorate the floors.

The Casa Romana is an example of a building called a "Roman domus", which was a typical town house for the upper classes of Roman society. The building covers an area of approximately 2 500 square metres and is divided into more than 30 rooms, which are arranged around three internal courtyards. Each of these courtyards is decorated with beautiful mosaics and fountains, which had both an aesthetic and functional role, providing a cooler climate inside the house during the hot summer months.

The mosaics in the Casa Romana are one of the most striking features of this monument. They depict various mythological scenes, geometric patterns and animal motifs, which testify to the high artistic level of the craftsmen of the time. In addition to the mosaics, the interior of the house is also decorated with frescoes that cover the walls of each room. The archaeological excavations also uncovered an interesting feature, namely an elaborate underfloor heating system known as hypocaustum. This system was used in ancient Rome to heat rooms using hot air that flowed under the floor and between the walls. This technology was very advanced for its time and testifies to the high level of comfort that the inhabitants of this villa could afford. Thanks to the preserved parts of the furnishings and decorations, we can get an idea of the lifestyle of the inhabitants of Kos at that time, their cultural and social customs.

Today, Casa Romana is one of the main tourist attractions on the island of Kos. Visitors have the opportunity to explore the various rooms of the house, admire the magnificent mosaics and frescoes and imagine how the wealthy inhabitants of Kos lived here more than a thousand years ago. In addition to the house itself, visitors can learn about the history of the island, which played an important role in the history of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. The house is surrounded by an extensive archaeological site.

After a tour of Casa Romana and the adjacent archaeological site, we also recommend visiting the nearby Roman Odeon and the Old Town of Kos with its large medieval fortress, Neratzia Castle. The Archaeological Museum, with its extensive collection of artefacts from the island of Kos, is also worth a visit, as is the archaeological site of Agora, where a lively commercial and social life took place in ancient times.

More touristic destinations of Kos

Most favourite sights of Kos: Agora (archaeological site), Archaeological Museum (Kos Town), Asklepion (archaeological site), Neratzia Castle, Roman Odeon, Old town of Paleo Pili

Resorts, beaches, sights or trips - clearly listed on the map of Kos.

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