Villa Armira
 Interior of Villa Armira with its complex Ancient Roman floor mosaics | |
  Shown within Bulgaria | |
| Location | Ivaylovgrad, Bulgaria |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°29′57″N 26°06′23″E / 41.499080°N 26.106319°E |
| Type | Villa |
| History | |
| Material | bricks, stones, marble |
| Founded | 1st century |
| Abandoned | 4th century |
| Periods | Roman Empire |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1964 |
| Condition | Restored |
| Public access | Yes |
Villa Armira (Bulgarian: Вила “Армира”), meaning "Reinforced Villa", is a 1st-century suburban Roman villa in southeastern Bulgaria, located in the proximity of Ivaylovgrad, Haskovo Province. Discovered in 1964 during reservoir construction, it is a primary historical attraction to the Ivaylovgrad area.[1] It is classified as a monument of culture of national importance.[2]
Villa Armira lies some 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) southwest of Ivaylovgrad. It was named after the Armira River, a minor tributary of the
History
The villa dates to the second half of the 1st century AD and originally belonged to a noble of Roman Thrace who is thought to have been the governor of the surrounding area.
It is thought to have been destroyed in the late 4th century, possibly by the Goths some time around the Battle of Adrianople of 378. According to some scholars, Armira might be the Villa in which the emperor Valens, wounded in the battle, had sought refuge.[3]
Features
Villa Armira features many examples of the Roman tradition in designing and organizing Villas.
Architecture of the Villa
Villa Armira is composed of two floors, and it contains the typical rooms that other Roman Villas would have. The two-storey U-shaped villa spreads over 3,600 square metres (39,000 sq ft) amidst a garden, with an impluvium in the middle. Villa Armira had 22 separate rooms on the ground floor alone in addition to a panoramic terrace. It was expanded eastward in the 3rd century AD with a triclinium and a hypocaust.[2]A part of the villa also includes an underfloor heating system, built for heating the inside of the building's rooms.
Decorations
The walls of the entire ground floor were covered in elaborately decorated white marble. The villa's complex floor
Today the 2nd-century mosaic portraits of the owner and his children can be seen in the
The villa itself, with many of the floor mosaics intact, underwent Phare-funded reconstruction and anastylosis and was opened for visitors in 2008.[4][5]
Gallery
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Interior view -
Mosaic depiction of thegorgon Medusa -
Geometric floor mosaics
References
- ISBN 978-2-7469-2141-2.
- ^ a b c d "Вила Армира — Паметник на културата с национално значение" (in Bulgarian). Община Ивайловград. Archived from the original on March 8, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
- ^ a b "VILLA ARMIRA (Bulgaria) (in Italian)". romanoimpero.com. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ "Вила "Армира" вече е отворена за посетители" (in Bulgarian). Български фактор. 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
- ^ "Scandal Erupts as Roman Mosaics Get Trampled on in Villa Armira Mansion near Bulgaria's Ivaylovgrad". 2 November 2020.
41°29′56.65″N 26°6′22.55″E / 41.4990694°N 26.1062639°E
| Authority control databases: Geographic |
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