Buildings

Buildings

View of a portion of an opus sectile panel that is composed of colored glass that depicts the harbor of Cenchreae.

Note the standing fisherman on the right side of the image. of center.  Just to the left and below him the white “lighthouse” that stood on the southern mole is depicted.  To the left of the lighthouse are three windows (filled with yellow light) and to the left of them, a building with six columns is depicted.

Also on the left side of the image, from top to bottom note a sailboat and on the extreme left a squid

Click Here to view the right portion of this panel.


This is a fragment of an opus sectile panel that is composed of colored glass!  Fifty (!) wooden crates containing glass panels that portray the harbor of Cenchreae were discovered in the harbor of Cenchreae.

The panels were never put into place – but they apparently depict the harbor.  They evidently were being stored in the Temple of Isis when the earthquake of A.D. 375 struck that destroyed the harbor.  These panels probably depict the harbor as of A.D. 370.

A selection of these panels is now on display in the museum at Isthmia.