Sparta celebrated last Monday. This is right. You see, Giannis Varvitsiotis’ decade-long personal struggle to save something important from its place of origin has come to fruition. Thanks to his own efforts and the great help of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, as well as the A. G. Leventis Foundation, two complex Roman mosaics that have been in the city since the end of the 19th century have finally received an elegant roof. These are two performances depicting “The Rapture of Europe” and “Orpheus as Animal Charmer”, created in the 3rd-4th centuries AD, which have been shown to the public since May, and are watched by thousands of spectators. However, a few days ago, the official opening of the so-called “House of Europe” took place in the capital of Laconia.

How did this story of their ascent begin? And how did Giannis Varvitsiotis, who, of course, is a history buff with soft nails, intervene? After all, he belongs to the old guard of highly cultured politicians and loves the place where the roots of his family come from. However, his own involvement came out in an unorthodox way: “Well, one night ten years ago I was in a tavern in Sparta and was eating with a group,” he explains. At the next table sat two elderly gentlemen who were angry and upset about some event, and their negative comments reached me. At the end of the meal, I got up and sat down with them to find out what upset them. They told me about two amazing mosaics found in the city over a century and a half that were not so lucky. I went and saw them the next morning, indeed, they were in a place that belonged to the Ministry of the Interior, but had been turned into a warehouse. I promised to help the cause. It took many years of effort and enlightened people who helped, and now the vision has become a reality.”

The joy of Yiannis Varvitsiotis was not hidden at the official opening of the “House of Europe”, where the authorities of the city, the Chairman of the Parliament Kostas Tassoulas, the venerable Metropolitan of Monemvasia and Spartis Evstatios, the regional governor of the Peloponnese Panagiotis were present. Nikas, the “current” mayor of the city, Petros Dukas. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation was represented by Giorgos Agourides, who also gave a short speech on the great value of partnerships. Of course, the politician’s family was also in Sparta, where Eleni, Miltiadis, Thomas and Konstantinos were proud of their father. In recent years, Nestor of politics has indeed made it his life’s goal to save these mosaics, which were accidentally discovered in 1872 and 1890. “I was very lucky that in the struggle I found the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and I was personally supported by Andreas Drakopoulos, who immediately agreed to help me,” emphasizes Yiannis Varvitsiotis in the column. He even acknowledges that there is another mosaic in the wider area that he would like to highlight in the future. As for his dedication to this goal, he emphasizes: “I seem to be indebted to my father, the Spartan Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, who taught me to love History and this place from a young age.”