House of Aion

A large Roman villa in the Paphos Archaeological Park, Cyprus, renowned for its exceptional mid-4th century AD mosaic floor discovered by a Polish team led by Prof. Daszewski in 1983. The 16-square-metre mosaic depicts five mythological scenes: Leda and the Swan, the infant Dionysus, a beauty contest between Cassiopeia and the Nereids, a Dionysian procession, and the god Aion (personification of time) at center. Dated after AD 318 based on a coin in the mortar, scholars interpret the mosaic as an allegorical anti-Christian polemic from the era of paganism's decline. Part of the UNESCO-listed Paphos complex.