Patras: The Ancient Conservatory is changing its image! – Work is progressing

The restoration and maintenance works of the Roman Conservatory of Patras continue with spectacular progress, with the results being visible and impressive on the south facade of the monument, where a large part of the damaged part has already been restored!

As the photo shows, the wall facing Germanou Street has been greatly extended, creating the feeling of a homogeneous section and adding even more imposing dimensions to the monument.

It should be noted that the project “Restoration and Maintenance of the Roman Conservatory of Patras” has a total budget of 800,000 euros and is financed by the operational program of the Region “Western Greece 2014-2020”, while the project is implemented independently by the Ephorate of Antiquities.

The operations of the crews are carried out throughout the entire scope of the Conservatory, with the main ones concerning the restoration of the dome of the stage and the backstage, the restoration of the marble mantle of the walls, the filling of the ancient foundations, the achievement of the perimeter tour and viewing of the monument in the ancient plane of motion. The project also includes the maintenance of all the marble and adobe elements that adorn the monument, as well as the unveiling of the mosaic floors of the corridors. The marbles of the hollow, installed in the 1960s restoration, also showed a lot of wear. The cracks they have suffered are significant, so some parts will be welded and some will be changed

The final goal is, upon completion of the project, to restore its original geometry and to come much closer to the image it had when it was built, the first half of the 2nd century. A.D. from the Romans. At the same time, some “mistakes” of the first restoration that took place between 1959-1961, with the care and expense of the paternal architect Ioannis Vassiliou and in collaboration with the Archaeological Society, will be corrected.

Today, one section of the stands is more elevated than the rest, which means the rest of the corresponding section is missing! The cause of this imbalance is unknown, perhaps it was caused by a lack of financial resources, perhaps even by some… error in that study. With the project, the bleachers will be fully symmetrical and the Conservatory will look uniform! It is also planned to carry out interventions around the perimeter of the Roman Conservatory.

When put into use, the Conservatory will have all the stands available for spectators, but at the same time it will also be a fully accessible organized space. It is estimated that after its restoration, the Conservatory will be able to accommodate even 3,000 spectators! All the entrances and exits will work, not only of the surrounding area, but also of the Conservatory itself.

In particular, in the Conservatory, all three vomitoria, i.e. the vaulted corridors on the three sides of the stands, will be restored, since until now only one was in operation for safety reasons!