ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE AND MUSEUM

It is one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, to be discovered without delay. Note that on the spot, French commentaries are offered as a bonus. The site of Eretria is also well known to Swiss visitors, since it is the Swiss School of Archaeology of Greece which carries out most of the excavation campaigns here since the 1960s, at the request of the government of Athens. Built in 1962 and renovated in the 1990s, it houses objects from several excavation sites in Evia: Eretria, Xeropolis, Skoumbri, Palaea Perivolia, Lefkandi, Paliochora and Magoula. Many objects found in the island of Evia are however exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, but also in Basel, Rome and London, but especially in the Louvre, in Paris.

The museum.

The coolness and the half-light of the place contrast pleasantly with the dazzling sun that shines outside. It is in the large room, directly after the entrance, that the pieces dating from Antiquity are exhibited: statues, funeral offerings, urns, spearheads, containers, tools, coins... One of the most beautiful objects is a terracotta centaur dating from the second half of the 10th century BC. The most surprising thing is that this statuette was found broken in two, each of the two halves placed in a different tomb. Another beautiful piece to observe, this Mycenaean alabaster of the twelfth century BC from the site of Lefkandi. Equipped with three handles, it is a pottery used to preserve oil. The decoration in white paint on a dark background depicts a figure whose shoulder and body are covered with drawings of animals. Like most of the works exhibited here, these pieces come from tombs in which funerary objects were buried. The second large room contains finds from the prehistoric period.

The archaeological site.

Around the museum, a part of the site is open to the public. There, panels present various architectural reconstructions, aligned along the route. In the place of the "House of mosaics", a modern building ensures the conservation of the pavements. This walk overlooking the sections of the rampart rising towards the acropolis is freely accessible. Attention, with children, the course can be with certain places difficult.

House with mosaics.

Built in 370 BC, this magnificent building was inhabited for about a century and destroyed in 270 BC. The modern pavilion that protects the mosaics today would resemble what the house was at that time. In the middle of it, you can see the remains of a tomb built on the ruins of the original house. Under the canopy, you will admire the mosaics (Nereids riding a seahorse) that animate the floor of this house. To the right of the tomb is the most beautiful mosaic panel of the house: in the vestibule, a sphinx and a panther confronting each other, and before the entrance, a Nereid on a sea horse.

The ancient theater. The first building dates back to the^5th century and was destroyed in 198 BC by the Romans. Nevertheless, it remains an impressive monument which reminds in many places the theater of Dionysus of Athens. Excavations have been undertaken by the American Archaeological School and restoration work is still in progress.