![Hisarya Fortress gates 005](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Hisarya_Fortress_gates_005.jpg)
Diocletianopolis ( el, Διοκλητιανούπολις, bg, Диоклецианопол, "Town of Diocletian") was a magnificent
ancient
Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
town in the region of
Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...
, nowadays the town of
Hisarya
Hisarya ( bg, Хисаря , also known as ''Hisar'', ''Hissar'' or ''Hissarya'', formerly: Toplitsa) is a small resort town in Bulgaria, in Plovdiv Province.
Hisar means 'fort, castle' in Arabic. The word was adopted in Persian and Ottoman Tur ...
in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
.
Its impressive remains include the enormous defensive walls which still stand close to their original height for the majority of their circuit.
There is an on-site museum for the many objects discovered.
The site
The Roman city was situated on a terrace with valleys on three sides and centred on hot mineral springs.
Today the city's interior lies mostly buried under a green park.
Excavations are still uncovering more unknown and impressive parts of the city.
History
Archaeological discoveries show that the site was inhabited from 6,000 years BC probably due to the many hot
mineral spring
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underg ...
s nearby. Later, a
Thracian
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...
settlement developed there and in the 5th and 4th centuries BC it became a major market town trading with Greek cities on the northern Aegean as evidenced by the range of imported coins and pottery found.
In the 1st century AD
Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...
was conquered by the Romans and the settlement eventually became a Roman city and one of the three most important towns in the province. It was first called Augusta.
The region centred on the city was declared an imperial domain at least in 135–36 AD under
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
, from an inscription discovered.
It was a famous resort indicated by the fact that emperor
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...
visited the city. In 293, the
Roman emperor Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
also came here undoubtedly attracted by the
mineral spring
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underg ...
s and raised its official status as a city and renamed it. The city walls of 2.3 km total length were built in the early 4th century after the
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
invasions.
After the fall of the
Moesian Limes, the city declined until at the end of 6th to beginning of the 7th century it was destroyed during invasions of Slavs and
Pannonian Avars
The Pannonian Avars () were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in chronicles of Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai ( el, Βαρχονίτες, Varchonítes), or Pseudo-Avars ...
.
Sights
![BULGARIA - HISAR Roman city wall - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/BULGARIA_-_HISAR_Roman_city_wall_-_panoramio.jpg)
Archaeological excavation is continuing to reveal more remains and many Roman remains are visible:
*the best-preserved and tallest Roman city walls anywhere, not only in Bulgaria
*thermal baths and nymphaeum
*an amphitheatre
*the barracks of the Roman garrison
*the tomb of a wealthy Roman
*the foundations of some of the oldest churches in Bulgaria.
*public buildings
The defensive walls are one of the very few examples that still stand at 11m close to their original height for the majority of their circuit. An additional, double, wall (as also was done uniquely at other Roman cities in Thrace) was built outside the northern section only where there was no exterior valley, to counter increasing threats from the
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
.
The thermal baths (''thermae '') are still fed by hot springs and still have intact swimming pools.
[Vast ‘Changing Room’ Found in Roman Thermae (Public Baths) of Ancient Spa Resort Diocletianopolis in Bulgaria’s Hisarya http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2020/10/19/vast-changing-room-found-in-roman-thermae-public-baths-of-ancient-spa-resort-diocletianopolis-in-bulgarias-hisarya/#more-14071] This building is still being excavated, but a
nymphaeum
A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs.
These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...
was first built around the springs, as indicated by the many votive objects discovered, in the mid-2nd century. This was extended with 3 rooms to create thermal baths at the end of the century, and in the 4th c. further major extensions to the south and west created an enormous building. The baths were unusual by Roman standards as all the rooms were heated by the hot spring water by channeling the water flow, instead of by furnaces.
The amphitheatre is unusual in being close to the centre of the city and within the city walls. It is also of irregular pear-shape.
Five necropoles have been discovered outside the city and many tombs have been explored. The largest and richest tomb, with beautiful frescoes and floor mosaics, is open to the public. It was built in the second half of the 4th c. AD and was used twice. It was built underground of large stone ashlars and masonry with a long passage to the surface and covered with a large mound of earth.
Gallery
File:Hisarya Fortress 086.jpg, Hisarya Fortress
File:Roman Thermae 025.jpg, Roman Thermae
File:Caldarium pool.jpg, Baths: Caldarium pool
File:Roman tomb.jpg, Roman tomb
File:Hisarya walls2.jpg, City walls
References
*Константин Маджаров. Диоклецианопол. Том 1. Диос, София, 1993 г, 214 с.
{{Authority control
Roman towns and cities in Bulgaria
Roman sites in Bulgaria
History of Plovdiv Province