Archaeologists excavating the ancient city of Adramytteion in western Turkey have uncovered a Roman villa organized around an atrium and surrounded by three large halls. The residence contains colourful mosaics, frescoed walls, drainage channels, pipelines and installations serving wet areas, offering evidence of both elaborate decoration and substantial infrastructure.
The discovery was made in the Ören neighbourhood of Burhaniye district in Balıkesir province, where archaeological investigations have been ongoing since 2012. Work is taking place across an area of approximately 9,000 square metres that contains remains from different periods of the city’s history.
Excavations are being conducted under the direction of the Balıkesir National Forces Museum Directorate, with permission from Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Dr Hüseyin Murat Özgen, head of the Adramytteion Research Team at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, is providing scientific consultancy.
The villa’s northern hall contains 15 mosaic panels with geometric and figurative designs. They depict birds, fish and a winged horse, a motif that also appeared on coins minted by Adramytteion during the fourth century BC. Its later use in the Roman residence may indicate that the symbol continued to be associated with the city’s identity, although the mosaic itself dates to the Roman period.
Other scenes show Medusa and Gorgon figures, along with pygmy figures interacting with birds. According to Özgen, the pygmy imagery is associated with mosaic traditions in North Africa. Because Adramytteion was a trading city with two harbours and connections across the eastern Mediterranean, he said the decoration could provide clues about the villa’s owner, possibly a wealthy merchant with commercial or cultural links to North Africa.
The mosaics also include images of a cat and a dog accompanied by inscriptions apparently identifying them by name. Özgen said the names translate as “Emerald” for the cat and “Ocean” for the dog.
Artefacts and decoration in the eastern hall indicate that the residence was in use during the second century AD. After destruction during the Roman period, another hall was added south of the central area in the fourth or fifth centuries AD. Beneath the villa, archaeologists found foundations of a substantial Hellenistic structure, some of which were reused in the Roman building.
The excavation team says the successive remains may help reconstruct domestic life, commercial connections and cultural exchange at Adramytteion. Excavations are continuing in the residential quarter.
