Palace of Troy

In honour of Trojan treasures 

During the summer months, the bright Athenian sun casts strong shadows across the Renaissance loggias on the facade of Panepistimiou Avenue. Symmetry and formality suitable to the official character of the street leading up to the Syntagma (Parliament) Square. 

Since my student years in Athens, I have always considered the composition as authentic Mediterranean. The Eclecticism of Villa Schliemann combines Neoclassical composition with Renaissance elements that carry particular weight in this location, since both styles trace their references to ancient Greek architecture.

But the weave of connections with the Greek past has an additional layer, this time back to prehistory. Schliemann commissioned the villa after his archaeological discoveries in Mycenae and Troy (now in the Archaeological Museum of Athens) and used it to showcase his findings. 

Scenes and symbols inspired by the artefacts of his excavations decorate the mosaics throughout the villa floors. Wall and ceiling frescoes that copy the style of Pompeian Villas, discovered a century earlier, further amplify the plurality of styles.

Named "Iliou Melathron" (which in Greek means "Palace of Troy"), the villa brings together Bronze-Age symbolism with Roman traditions, and Greek antiquity with Renaissance architecture.

Nineteenth-century Eclecticism is often accused of superficially reproducing the past. In the case of Villa Schliemann, the artistic choices might be justified due to the unique convergence of exceptional circumstances: both in terms of its location and a series of historical events. 

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