Politiko-Ayios Herakleidios: excavation at the monastery

In 1964, during restoration work at the monastery of Ayios Herakleidios at Politiko, the Department of Antiquities carried out a small excavation inside and outside the church under A. Papageorghiou¹. In the north wing a pavement mosaic fragment and a stylobate fragment were found, with earlier foundations beneath the north-wing apse¹. A later overview dates a mosaic floor inside the church to the fifth or sixth century². Karageorghis described an original three-aisled basilica with column-separated aisles and mosaic flooring, followed by a second basilica whose aisles were divided by rectangular piers; piers later used as buttresses kept frescoes on their faces beside the south wall¹. South of the church, above the cave traditionally identified as the saint's tomb, part of a structure with a geometric-pattern mosaic floor and a monogram was uncovered. Karageorghis dated it to the first century and suggested it might be a mausoleum connected with worship at the cave^1,2. A later overview reports that medieval tombs cut into the church floor had destroyed much of the mosaic pavement².