All about Zakynthos

The Romas mansion was built in the 1660s by the English merchant and Vice Consul of England in Zakynthos Robert John Geoffrey. It was bought by Alexander Roma in 1880 and has been the family's main residence ever since. The ancestor of the branch of the noble Roma family in Zakynthos is Kourtios Roma (1583-1642), who arrived on the island in 1608. Since then, the family was active in Zakynthos, giving prominence to many distinguished people in the political and intellectual life of Greece. The Roma family, in contrast to other historical Ionian families, continued its strong participation in public life both during the British Protectorate (1814-1864) and after the Union of the Ionian Islands with Greece. The role of the Dionysios de Roma, member of the Greek Society Filiki Etairia, in the Greek Revolution, his close friendship with Kolokotronis and other political and military leaders of Greece and Europe is well known. From 1880 until the Second World War, the house was the base of one of the two major political formations on the island, the Romani Party. Apart from its historical significance for the modern history of Zakynthos, the house represents the only example of a mansion - a large urban house - that remains still after the earthquakes of 1953. During the period of the earthquakes the house was extensively damaged, but was not burnt down by the great fire that followed the earthquakes. Thanks to the perseverance of the well-known Zakynthian scholar and politician Dionysios Roma, and the dedication of his wife Maria, the old mansion was not only not dismantled, like so many others, but instead was restored, almost intact, in its pre-earthquake form. Its interior layout reflects the needs, mentality and general lifestyle of the old aristocratic class of the island, such as the large reception areas, the library (over 10,000 titles) consisting of very old and rare publications, the collection of family portraits, paintings, uniforms and weapons of family members and other historical objects.