1972–1977

-2-

mosaic floor of boulder geometric design composed of larger tesserae. This belongs to a different architectural scheme, for it extends under the walls enclosing the later mosaics. It is probably contemporary with the original construction of the basilica, where sections of a somewhat similar mosaic floor have been uncovered below the paving of the narthex.

The remaining rooms of "The Bishop's Palace" so far excavated were of a more humble character, at least in their last state. In one of them, below the rough stone paving, a section of plain mosaic floor was found with remains of the slabs of marble which had originally lined its walls. The debris in these rooms included large quantities of floor mosaic fragments, which must have fallen from the mains accommodation on an upper floor. No trace of a staircase was found; one is perhaps to be sought in that part of the building which lies further to the north and remains unexcavated. To judge by the numerous stone troughs found there, several of the ground floor rooms were used by shepherds after the site so far of Curium was abandoned. The latest coins from the site of the basilica and its annexes did not identified suggest that the basilica and its annexes did not survive for long after the first Arab incursions of the mid-seventh century. The population would then have moved to a site less exposed to raiders from the sea, a site which took its name from the bishop's new residence: Episkopi.