House of Aion

The mosaics of the House of Aion date back to the fourth century A.D and lie close to the mosaics of Dionysus and Theseus. Five mythological scenes worth seeing are "The bath of Dionysus", "Leda and the Swan", "The beauty contest between Cassiopeia and the Nereids", "Apollo and Marsyas", and the "Triumphant procession of Dionysus". The House of Aion is located in the Paphos Archaeological Park and is close to all the other attractions, such as the Paphos lighthouse and the Odeon. So far only a small part of the building has been excavated by the Polish Archaeological mission of the university of Warsaw.

House of Aion is the smallest house, discovered in 1983, which basically contains one large mosaic showing five scenes. At the top left is Leda and the swan (Zeus is disguised as the swan). In the top right corner is a picture of baby nymphs with the baby Dionysos. The middle picture shows sea nymphs in a beauty contest, being judged by Aion. In the bottom row Dionysos appears again in a triumphal procession, and the final picture shows Apollo punishing the loser of a musical duel. This lovely card was given to me by Merja.