The splendor of the villa Armira
Category: Roman Archaeology
Language: English

   Villa Armira is a suburban Roman villa located in the Southeast Bulgaria. Villa Armira is a sumptuous palace villa and one of the largest and most richly decorated Roman villas excavated in Bulgaria. The complex dates to the second half of the 1st century AD. 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.

    The villa spreads over 3600 square metres 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. The walls of the entire ground floor were covered in elaborately decorated white marble. The villa's floor mosaics display geometric designs and depictiions of animals and plants. The mosaics in the master's chamber depict the 2nd century AD owner with his two children. A common theme in the villa's decoration is the gorgon Medusa.

Table of contents

I. The Ancient Villa Armira near Ivailovgrad

II. The Big Burial Mound at Svirachi: A Part of the Family Necropolis of the Owners of the Villa Armira

Write a review