15/05/2023
Remains of imperial palace and other buildings at Felix Romuliana archaeological site, one of the best-preserved ancient monuments in Serbia. It was a residence of ancient Roman emperor Galerius and fortified complex of palaces...
Remains of imperial palace and other buildings at Felix Romuliana archaeological site, one of the best-preserved ancient monuments in Serbia. It was a residence of ancient Roman emperor Galerius and fortified complex of palaces, temples dedicated several gods of Roman pantheon, basilicas, hot baths, and other public and military buildings. It was built at the end of 3rd and beginning of the 4th century AD in emperor’s birthplace and named after emperor's mother Romula.
Being imperial residence, buildings of the complex were lavishly decorated.
Floors of the palace located in north-western part of the complex were covered with mosaics, while the walls were decorated with wall paintings and covered with marble slabs and reliefs, and in many buildings stood sculptures of the emperor and Roman gods. Palace had system of floor heating.
Several archaeological excavations were carried out in Felix Romuliana, which revealed numerous interesting and valuable findings such as ancient jewelry, weapons, objects for everyday use and remains of artworks mentioned above. Especially valuable are fragments of the statue of emperor Galerius carved of purple porphyry stone, exploited only in quarries in Egypt and used exclusively by Roman emperors, for imperial portraits and statues.
East of the palace stood small temple dedicated to goddess Cybele, and in the southern part of the complex was large temple in which imperial cult was practiced.
Complex is surrounded by strong defensive walls with 2 gates and 20 towers. Whole site covers area of about 6,5 hectares
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Ostaci carske palate i drugih građevina u Feliks Romulijani, jednom od najočuvanijih antičkih spomenika u Srbiji. Predstavlja rezidenciju rimskog cara Galerija sagrađenu u krajem 3. i početkom 4. veka nove ere, koja je obuhvatala kompleks palata, hramova, bazilika, toplih kupatila i drugih vojnih i javnih građevina, nazvana po njegovoj majci Romuli.
Budući carska rezidencija, građevine ovog kompleksa bile su raskošno ukrašene.
Podovi palate koja se nalazila u sverozapadnom delu kompleksa, bili su pokriveni mozaicima, dok su zidovi bili ukrašeni freskama i prekriveni mermerom i reljefima, a u mnogim drugim građevinama sajale su skulpture cara i rimskih bogova. U palati je postojao sistem podnog grejanja.
Unutar kompleksa sprovedena su brojna istraživanja, koja su iznedrila značajna arheološka otkrića, poput prelepih primeraka nakita, oružja, predmeta za svakodnevnu upotrebu i ostataka pomenutih građevina i umetničkih dela. Posebno su važna otkrića delova skulpture cara isklesane od porfira, kamena koji se eksploatisao samo u Egiptu, a smeli su da koriste isključivo rimski carevi, pa su od ovog kamena izrađivani carski portreti i statue.
Istočno od palate nalazi se mali hram posvećen boginji Kibeli, dok se u južnom delu kompleksa nalazio veliki hram u kojem je praktikovan carski kult.
Utvrđenje koje okružuje kompleks ima 20 kula i dve kapije, a ceo lokalitet pokriva površinu od oko 6,5 hektara.
Foto - Narodni muzej "Zaječar"
