5 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Lovingly gazing mosaics restored in Turkey’s Metropolis

In the ancient city of Metropolis in the Torbali district of the western Izmir province, mosaics portraying Eros, the Greek god of love, Dionysus, the Greek god of fertility, theater, and mirth, and his wife Ariadne have been restored to their former grandeur thanks to the painstaking labor of restorers.

While the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Manisa Celal Bayar University continue to excavate in Metropolis throughout the year in order to uncover the city’s mysteries, the mesmerizing mosaics were restored using modern techniques. The state-of-art techniques have provided the mosaics with a fresher look and also ensured the preservation of their stones and colors.

The mosaics that have been restored also feature depictions of masks, the symbols of theater, and fish and bird figures that describe the fertility of the region along with Eros, Dionysus, and Ariadne.

A restorer works on mosaics in the ancient city of Metropolis. Photo: AA
A restorer works on mosaics in the ancient city of Metropolis. Photo: AA

Prof. Serdar Aybek, the excavation’s director, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that Metropolis, which has rich fields, connects Central Anatolia and the Aegean, and so has housed various civilizations in the past. Aybek pointed out that Metropolis is notable for its mosaics, saying, “We found the mosaics in the area (that) we believe to be a guesthouse and sustained their restoration here as well.”

A restorer works on mosaics in the ancient city of Metropolis. Photo: AA
A restorer works on mosaics in the ancient city of Metropolis. Photo: AA

Stating that the guesthouse where the mosaics are located is connected with the theater, Aybek added, “We think that the guests who came to the Metropolis for the theater were hosted here. Therefore, Dionysus, who is known as the god of theater and entertainment, his wife Ariadne and Eros were often used in the mosaics on the floor of this house. We see great delicacy in the mosaics. In these mosaics, which are almost like a painting, shadow, toning and even facial expressions are conveyed very successfully and strongly.”

A restorer works on mosaics in the ancient city of Metropolis. Photo: AA

According to the excavation head, love is emphasized in the mosaics. “Dionysus and Ariadne are looking at each other in the mosaics. There is Eros between them. This is actually a message of love transmitted from about 1,800 years ago.”

The history of Metropolis, known as the “City of Mother Goddess,” stretches from the first traces of Late Neolithic settlements to the Classical Age, from the Hellenistic Age to the Roman and Byzantine periods, the Anatolian beyliks (principalities), and the Ottoman era.

Related Articles

3,500-year-old perfectly preserved ancient frozen bear found in Siberian

28 February 2023

28 February 2023

As the permafrost on Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island in eastern Siberia melted, a mummified brown bear that lived more than three...

Archaeologists Discover 2,000-Year-Old Jug in Tajikistan Bearing Woman’s Name

4 July 2025

4 July 2025

In a discovery of rare historical and cultural significance, archaeologists in southern Tajikistan have uncovered a 2,000-year-old clay jug bearing...

Evidence of a 1500-year-old Byzantine church found on the beach of Ashdod, Israel

22 February 2022

22 February 2022

Recent rain in Israel has unearthed the remains of a marble pillar dating to around 1,500 years ago on a...

What If Ancient Statues Smelled Wonderful? The Surprising Secrets of Greco-Roman Sculptures

16 March 2025

16 March 2025

A new study published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology has shed light on an often-overlooked aspect of ancient Greek...

Life in Trabzon Started in This Cave 13,000 Years Ago

12 March 2021

12 March 2021

Karadeniz Technical University Archeology Department academicians found that life in Trabzon started 13,000 years ago in the Koskarlı Cave. Koskarlı...

A 5,000-year-old large house has been discovered in China’s Yangshao Village

7 December 2022

7 December 2022

Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology archaeologists have excavated the ruins of house foundations dating back more than...

Archaeologists uncovered a Roman settlement and what is thought to be an extremely rare early Medieval longhouse in North East Wales

16 August 2024

16 August 2024

The team from the University of Chester, Heneb: the Trust for Welsh Archaeology (Clwyd-Powys region), and the Portable Antiquities Scheme...

Bronze Age burial chamber discovered on Dartmoor, England

14 May 2024

14 May 2024

Excitement has been felt among archaeologists over the discovery of a Bronze Age burial chamber on Dartmoor, which may provide...

Archaeologists discover 7,000-year-old tiger shark-tooth knives in Indonesia

29 October 2023

29 October 2023

Excavations on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi have yielded an incredible find: two tiger shark teeth that were fashioned into...

A submerged stone bridge constructed 5600 years ago shed light on the human colonization of the western Mediterranean

31 August 2024

31 August 2024

An interdisciplinary research team, led by University of South Florida (USF) geology Professor Bogdan Onac, has examined an ancient submerged...

Paleontologists say world’s oldest-known burial site found in South Africa

6 June 2023

6 June 2023

American explorer and scientist Lee Berger in South Africa said they have found the oldest-known burial site in the world,...

Electoral inscriptions just discovered in Pompeii reveal clientelism in ancient Rome

29 September 2023

29 September 2023

Several electoral inscriptions, the ancient equivalent of today’s electoral posters and pamphlets, have appeared on the walls of the room...

China exhibits 2,000-year-old artifacts discovered in Guangzhou

12 August 2021

12 August 2021

On August 10, the National Museum of China launched an exhibition featuring archaeological finds from ancient China’s Qin (221–207 BC)...

New Moai statue discovered on Easter Island

1 March 2023

1 March 2023

A new Moai statue has been discovered on Rapa Nui, a Chilean territory known as Easter Island. The sacred monument,...

Lost 14th Century Church Discovered under a Tennis Court in Hungary

14 May 2024

14 May 2024

During an archaeological excavation in Visegrád, a fortified medieval castle on a hill overlooking the Danube in northern Hungary, the...