Bulgarian Archaeologists Reveal Beautiful Early Christian Floor Mosaics amidst Unpleasant Present-Day ‘Finds’ in Plovdiv’s Great Basilica

Unique Early Christian floor mosaics have been re-excavated by Bulgarian archaeologists working on the restoration of the 5th century AD Great Basilica in Plovdiv. Photo: Plovdiv24

Bulgarian archaeologists and restorers have revealed beautiful Early Christian floor mosaics in the 5^th century AD Great Basilica whose re-excavation, restoration, and conservation started two weeks ago in the southern city of Plovdiv.

The Early Byzantine Great Basilica in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv was discovered in the 1980s but its ruins and unique floor mosaics have been re-buried with soil and sand as a means of preserving them in anticipation of the resolution of legal disputes over the property, and the securing of sufficient funding for the further excavation and conservation of the site.

The project for the excavation and restoration of the 5 th century Great Basilica in the Southern Bulgarian city of Plovdiv is going to focus on the recovery, restoration, and conservation of its Early Christian mosaics.

Unique Early Christian floor mosaics have been re-excavated by Bulgarian archaeologists working on the restoration of the 5th century AD Great Basilica in Plovdiv. Photo: Plovdiv24

The restoration and excavation of the Great Basilica of ancient Philipopolis, as Plovdiv was known after the conquest of Ancient Thrace by King Philip II of Macedon in 342 AD, is a long awaited project which will be funded with a grant of BGN 4.9 million (app. EUR 2.5 million) by the America for Bulgaria Foundation, a Bulgarian-U.S. NGO.

Lead archaeologist Elena Kisyakova, who first found the Early Christian church in 1982, has made it clear that the project will focus on the restoration, conservation, and exhibition of the Great Basilica and its mosaics, and only partial excavations will be done on an “as needed” basis.

During their current re-excavation of the floor mosaics in the Early Byzantine temple, the Bulgarian archaeologists and restorers have come across some rather “unpleasant” present-day “finds” such as wallets with credit cards and IDs, some of them belonging to foreign nationals, empty vodka bottles, and abandoned bras and underwear, reports local news site Plovdiv24.

These finds are scattered all over the place due to the fact that the site of the Great Basilica in Plovdiv had been largely neglected during the 25-year post-communist period, and, sadly, had turned into a meeting ground for drug addicts and homeless people. The discovered IDs and credits cards were probably stolen from foreigners as well as Bulgarian citizens, the archaeologists believe.

Apparently stolen IDs and credit cards belonging to both Bulgarian and foreign nationals have also been found on the site of the Great Basilica in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv. Photo: Plovdiv24

The total of 2000 square meters of Early Christian floor mosaics at the basilica, which was built at the beginning of the 5^th century AD, will be restored and exhibited in situ, and ready to welcome visitors by the summer of 2017.

The new tourist center will have a roof, an inner yard, and a performance space which will be used for different types of events.

Recently, Plovdiv Municipality has moved to seek from Bulgaria’s Ministry of Culture a transfer of property rights over the entire site of the Early Christian Great Basilica. Plovdiv Municipality owns only part of the site.

Back in 2002, under then Mayor Ivan Chomakov, Plovdiv Municipality sold the property to a private firm even though it contained a formally recognized monument of culture. As a result, once the scandalous deal unraveled, it took the municipality and the central government seven years of court battles to regain the ownership of the Great Basilica site. Plovdiv Municipality even had to pay the private owners BGN 500,000 (about EUR 255,000) as a compensation for a plot of 1,500 square meters.

Unique Early Christian floor mosaics have been re-excavated by Bulgarian archaeologists working on the restoration of the 5th century AD Great Basilica in Plovdiv. Photo: Plovdiv24

The project for Plovdiv’s Great Basilica, which is sometimes likened to similar historical monuments from ancient Constantinople and Ravenna, the last capital of the Western Roman Empire, is the second of this kind, after in 2010-2014 Bulgaria Culture Ministry, Plovdiv Municipality, and the America for Bulgaria Foundation collaborated for the excavation and restoration of another Early Christian monument, the so called Small Basilica dating back to the 5^th century AD.

The Small Basilica project was financed by the America for Bulgaria Foundation with a BGN 1 million (app. EUR 511,000) grant, and was formally opened for tourists in May 2014.

Background Infonotes:

The Early Christian Great Basilica (or Bishop’s Basilica) is located in the center of the ancient city of Philipopolis, which is itself in the downtown of today’s Plovdiv in Southern Bulgaria. It was discovered in 1982 by a team of archaeologists led by Elena Kisyakova. The excavated remains of the Great Basilica were fenced off as part of conservation efforts but have not been excavated further ever since. Back in 2002, Plovdiv Municipality sold the property to a private firm even though it contained a formally recognized monument of culture. As a result, once the scandalous deal unraveled, it took the municipality and the central government seven years of court trials to regain the ownership of the Great Basilica site. The Philipopolis Bishop’s Basilica is impressive in size – its length totals 86.3 meters (the combined length of its naos with the apse is 56.5 meters), and its width is estimated to be 38.5 meters. The entire floor of the three-nave basilica is paved with unique Early Christian mosaics covering a total area of 700 square meters. The mosaic floors were created in two construction stages. The color mosaics feature primarily geometric motifs and images of birds typical of the second quarter of the 5^th century. About 70 different species of birds have been identified, some of which appear to be unknown to contemporary ornithology. Based on the mosaics, the Early Christian Bishop’s Basilica in the ancient city of Philipopolis is dated back to the first half of the 5^th century BC, the Late Roman – Early Byzantine period. It was destroyed in the middle of the 6^th century, possibly during a barbarian invasions. It was built on the foundations of an earlier building of similar size and potentially with similar functions.