Residential remains that were brought to light by the excavation on the Makrygiannis plot highlighted a thriving neighbourhood that -at least since Roman times- was chosen as a residing spot for local aristocrats. Spacious houses with marble-floored courtyards, cisterns and wells coexisted with grand unban mansions with mosaic floors and private baths.

The luxury that once characterized the buildings of the excavation is underlined by the number of marble architectural members that were recovered from the entire area. Columns with fine Ionic capitals, pillar capitals, cornices, lintels and wall paneling with floral and geometric motifs, marble vases and tables with elaborate supports, once decorated the houses’ interior and their courtyards.

Wealthy owners of these luxurious mansions collected old and new artefacts that depicted gods and mortals. They placed them in prominent places such as entrances, courtyards, porticos, reception halls, baths and fountains, displaying their wealth and status in the local community. They promoted their philosophical education and aesthetic culture with busts of rhetoricians and philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, and their political influence with portraits of prominent figures, such as the Empress Eudocia.