The Domus Romana (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for " Roman House"), stylized as the Domvs Romana (after Latin's lack of distinction between u and v), is a ruined Roman-era house located on the boundary between Mdina and Rabat,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. It was built in the 1st century BC as an aristocratic town house ('' domus'') within the Roman city of Melite. In the 11th century, a Muslim cemetery was established on the remains of the domus. The site was discovered in 1881, and archaeological excavations revealed several well preserved Roman

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s, statues and other artifacts, as well as a number of tombstones and other remains from the cemetery. Since 1882, the site has been open to the public as a museum, which is currently run by

Heritage Malta Heritage Malta ( mt, Patrimonju Malta) is the Maltese national agency for museums, conservation practice and cultural heritage. Created by the Cultural Heritage Act, enacted in 2002, the national agency replaced the former Museums Department. Or ...

. It was erroneously called the ''Roman Villa'' when rediscovered as it was thought to be outside the city of Melite but on further examinations it was clarified to be within city limits.

History and description

Roman house

The ''Domvs Romana'' is believed to have been built in the beginning of the 1st century BC, and it remained in use until the 2nd century AD. The house had a colonnaded

peristyle In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peristyle (; from Greek ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. Tetrastoön ( grc, τετράστῳον or τετράστοον, lit=f ...

inspired by

ancient Greek architecture Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greek-speaking people (''Hellenic'' people) whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC unti ...

, and its best features are the well-made polychrome

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

style mosaics found in the peristyle and the surrounding rooms, which show decorative motifs or mythological scenes. Two types of tesserae were employed:

opus vermiculatum ''Opus vermiculatum'' is a method of laying mosaic tesserae to emphasise an outline around a subject. This can be of one or more rows and may also provide background contrast, e.g. as a shadow, sometimes with '' opus tessellatum''. The outline c ...

, in the centre of the pavement; opus tessellatum, larger tesserae to create three-dimensional designs all around the main image. The picture sought to imitate a highly popular motif which may be first painted by an artist from Sophos. The ''domus'' also shows fine painted wall plaster imitating coloured marbles and showing partly stylized architectural elements which would place them somewhere between the 1st and 2nd

Pompeian Styles The Pompeian Styles are four periods which are distinguished in ancient Roman mural painting. They were originally delineated and described by the German archaeologist August Mau (1840–1909) from the excavation of wall paintings at Pompeii, wh ...

. Although the house was mostly destroyed over time, its mosaics have survived largely intact, and they are comparable with those found at Pompeii or

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. A number of 1st century AD statues of the imperial Roman family, along with coins, glassware, tableware, bath accessories, amphorae and other fine artifacts have also been found in the domus.

Muslim cemetery

In the 11th century, while Malta was part of the Fatimid Caliphate, the site of the domus was converted into a cemetery. At least 245 burials were discovered during the excavations, which also unearthed a number of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

(and one marble) tombstones with Naskh or

Kufic Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...

inscriptions. Some ceramics and a silver ring were also found during the excavations.

Discovery and excavations

The ''Domvs Romana'' was discovered accidentally in 1881 by workers during a landscaping project. It was subsequently excavated by the leading archaeologists of the time, including Antonio Annetto Caruana, Sir Themistocles Zammit, Robert V. Galea, Harris Dunscombe Colt and Louis Upton Way.

Museum

Malta - Mdina - Wesgha tal-Muzew - Domus Romana ex 03 ies

After the domus was first excavated, a museum was built on the site of the

of the house in order to preserve its mosaics. The museum opened in February 1882, and it was the first building in Malta that was constructed specifically to house a museum of a particular archaeological site. The museum was originally known as the Museum of Roman Antiquities, and apart from the mosaics and other Roman or Muslim artifacts uncovered from the domus, it also exhibited some other Roman marble pieces which were found in the streets of Mdina. Eventually, many Roman artifacts found elsewhere in Malta were transferred to this museum. In 1922, the museum was enlarged to designs by the architect Galizia, and a neoclassical façade and a large display room were added. The remains of the domus were included on the Antiquities List of 1925. The museum closed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and it housed a restoration centre before reopening to the public in 1945. The mosaic of the peristyle was restored in the second half of the 20th century, but was unintentionally damaged in the process. Currently,

is carrying out a report on how to conserve the mosaic and repair it with as little damage as possible. The displays of the museum were renovated between 2002 and 2005, and again in 2011.

References

{{Mdina Mdina Rabat, Malta Archaeological sites in Malta Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC Houses in Malta Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Malta Cemeteries in Malta Muslim cemeteries Former cemeteries Islam in Malta 1881 archaeological discoveries Museums established in 1882 Neoclassical architecture in Malta Museums in Malta Sites managed by Heritage Malta