The House of Eirene (; bg, Резиденция Ейрене) is an ancient Roman

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 ...

house (a '' domus'') with lavish

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 ...

floors in Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv), built in the middle of the 3rd century AD in the provincial capital of

Thracia Thracia or Thrace ( ''Thrakē'') is the ancient name given to the southeastern Balkan region, the land inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was ruled by the Odrysian kingdom during the Classical and Hellenistic eras, and briefly by the Greek D ...

. It is named after the image of the Greek goddess Eirene (lit. "Peace"), depicted in the central mosaic. It was probably built following the destructive Siege of Philippoupolis by 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 ...

in 250, during the

Crisis of the Third Century The Crisis of the Third Century, also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis (AD 235–284), was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed. The crisis ended due to the military victories of Aurelian and with the ascensio ...

in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

. The excavated area of the residential complex is 668 m², of which 160 m² are colourful mosaics. The remains of the residence are located in the archaeological underpass of Tsar Boris III Boulevard, in which the paved Roman street is also situated.

The residence and the mosaics

The peristyle house was probably built in the middle of the 3rd century AD after the destruction brought to Philippopolis by the invasion of the

in 251 AD.
www.romanplovdiv.org The building occupies a whole Insula (Roman city), ''insula'' (a city block surrounded by four streets) and was built over the ruins of several older houses which were destroyed during the Goth invasion. The house was severely damaged after the invasion of Attila's

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

in 441442, but later it was repaired and expanded. Between the 4th and the 5th century, the floors were decorated with colourful and lavish mosaics of geometrical figures, endless knot symbols, flowers and welcoming inscriptions to visitors. The house was abandoned at the end of the 6th century, like other important buildings in the area, such as the episcopal basilica of Philippopolis. The residential rooms were in the eastern part and surrounded the

(an open courtyard within the house surrounded by columns) while the service rooms were located in the southern part.
www.antichen-stadion-plovdiv.eu A separate part of the building which had a direct access to the street nearby accommodated the servants. The most beautiful mosaic was placed in the centre of the main residential room; a masterfully crafted portrait of the Greek goddess Eirene in ''

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 ...

'' with smaller

tesserae A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive ''tessella'') is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a square, used in creating a mosaic. It is also known as an abaciscus or abaculus. Historical tesserae The oldest known tessera ...

. The octagonal marble basin located in the centre of the floor served as a fountain. In a later period, an apse was built next to the main entrance space.

Excavation and restoration

The house and the ancient street next to it were discovered in 19831984 during the construction of the underpass of Tsar Boris III Boulevard in Plovdiv. Shortly afterwards the building was listed as a cultural value of national significance. The remains of the house and the mosaic floors were restored and opened to public in 2003 as a part of TrakArt cultural complex.

Gallery

Further pictures of the villa mosaics as follows. Image:Eirene mosaics5.jpg, Image:Eirene mosaics9.jpg, Image:Eirene mosaics4.jpg, Image:Eirene mosaics11.jpg, Image:Eirene mosaics10.jpg,

References

External links

Virtual Tour
{{Ancient Monuments in Plovdiv Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Bulgaria Houses completed in the 3rd century Roman mosaics Philippopolis (Thrace)