The Roman villa at Ambelli (Agios Athanasios) of Skala was discovered in 1957, after the excavation of V. Kallipolitis and is one of the most important messes of the Roman era in Kefalonia. This rural mansion, which seems to belong to a Roman landowner, dates back to the 2nd century. A.D. and it must have been destroyed in the 4th century. A.D. by fire.

Six rooms are preserved from the mansion, while its eastern part was destroyed during the Early Christian period, when the central chamber was converted into a church that was preserved around the 9th or 10th century AD. In the late Byzantine times, on the ruins of the older temple, the chapel of St. Athanasius was built. In the eastern part of the mansion there might have been baths. There, in 1822, a large tank was built. In front of the main entrance of the mansion that had south oriental orientation, a torrent passed, so access to the house was to be done with a wooden bridge, perhaps for safety reasons.

Of great interest are the magnificent mosaics that adorn the floors, despite their extensive disasters from time and the ancestors. Some of the multicolored mosaics represent human figures and animals that are framed by geometric shapes and epigrams. In particular, it is depicted in the form of a new naked man, the Entente, in order to prevent visitors from this feeling in front of the beauty of the home and the landscape, as well as a tabernacle of animals.

Close to the villa there is also an archaic Doric temple dating back to the end of the 6th or the beginning of the 5th century BC. The temple was investigated in 1960 by the archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos, who attributed him to the worship of Apollo, but this has not been ascertained. It is estimated that the church belonged to a wider sanctuary enclosed by a precinct and was a place of worship and relaxation especially for sailors passing through the area en route to the West.

The villa is open to visitors during the summer period daily except Mondays from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm and during the winter season it can be visited by arrangement.