Goddess of love rises out of metro excavation

Idols, clay lamps and amphorae, drinking cups, perfume vases, jewelry and other utilitarian and decorative objects make up the 300,000 or so finds unearthed during excavation work for the Thessaloniki metro. 

Most striking among them, however, are the pieces related to Aphrodite, testifying to the northern port city's enduring bond with the goddess of love.
The most interesting of these are a marble sculpture and a mosaic depicting the goddess that were found during digging for the Aghia Sofia station. Dating to different periods, they are indicative of the fact that the goddess was worshipped in the what is now downtown Thessaloniki as recently as early Christian times.
Aphrodite is represented by a plethora of statues and idols in a variety of different ways, and this was particularly the case in Roman times, explained Polyxeni Adam-Veleni, an archaeologist and...