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"Unbelievable"/ Excavations in the Ulpiana mosaic, French archaeologists find traces of Emperor Justinian from Dardania
2025-08-12 16:52:40 / JETË
French professor Christophe Goddard, who leads the team of French archaeologists, who together with colleagues from Italy and Kosovo are undertaking excavations in the Ulpiana Archaeological Park, has described as "incredible" the fact that two mosaics with unique inscriptions have been discovered in that park, commissioned by the emperor originally from Dardania, Justinian I, and his wife, Theodora.
One of them was found about two years ago, while the second was found recently.
“ We were lucky to find an inscription by Justinian himself two years ago. We had Roman inscriptions that mentioned him, but not by him. This year we discovered a new inscription. To find one inscription by Justinian was extraordinary. To find two is incredible. Although in a way it is not surprising, because we know that Justinian, who was from this region, was very connected to it, ” says Prof. Goddard.
Both of these inscriptions, the first mentioning the founding of the city of Justiniana Secunda as a Dardanian city and the second, the construction of the episcopal basilica, testify to the development and importance of the area, especially in the eyes of Justinian, who due to his origin seems to have paid special attention to the reconstruction of Ulpiana after the earthquake of 518 AD.
" We are following the history of the city of Ulpiana since its creation at the beginning of the first century, during the Roman occupation. We do not know the name of the settlement when it was created, but at the beginning of the second century, after Trajan, it was called Ulpiana and was destroyed in 518, to be rebuilt about a kilometer east of the original settlement, under the name Justiniana Secunda, " says the French professor.
According to archaeologists, the Basilica of Justiniana Secunda was one of the largest churches of that time.
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