Museum of Mosaics, Devnya
Encyclopedia
The Museum of Mosaics is a museum in the town of Devnya
in Varna Province, northeastern Bulgaria
. The museum, built on top of a large ruined Roman villa
from Late Antiquity
, exhibits mosaic
s from the Roman
and early Byzantine
city of Marcianopolis
, as well as other archaeological artifacts.
raids in 250–251, it was abandoned in the 7th century due to Avar
and Slavic invasions.
The villa is nearly square in shape, measuring 37.15 by 37.75 m (121.9 by 123.9 ft). It features 21 rooms situated around an inner courtyard (atrium
) with a well; the rooms have a total area of 1409 sqm. The museum lies in a small park, with a well-preserved Roman street
crossing under the building. Around the museum are several ancient walls, which, along with the villa, constitute most of the preserved ruins of Marcianopolis. The museum building only covers the western part of the villa; its eastern wing and the atrium are not covered. Many of the villa's walls were decorated with fresco
es and stucco
, while the floors of the portico
and five premises were covered by elaborate mosaics. In addition to mosaics, the museum displays items pertaining to the Roman villa itself and to the life of its inhabitants.
The modern museum building was built to the design of architect Kamen Goranov. Museum curator Anastas Angelov has criticised the construction, claiming that 90% of the building's weight is carried by the Roman ruins. As of 2008, visible cracks were threatening the building, which was also sinking due to groundwater
. In 2005, the museum was visited by a record 10,000 people; in 2006, the annual visitors were around 8,000. The Museum of Mosaics in Devnya is listed as #10 among the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria
.
and the remaining have been moved from their original locations in order to be conserved and restored. As a whole, the mosaics were laid out using the opus tessellatum
(tiles aligned in horizontal or vertical lines) and opus vermiculatum
(tiles aligned so as to draw an outline around the shapes) techniques. The tiles were made of marble
, clay
, limestone
and coloured glass
and include 16 colour varieties.
Despite the rise of Christianity
during the reign of Constantine, the mosaics in the House of Antiope are exclusively pagan in character. They feature depictions of characters from Greek
and Roman mythology
such as Zeus
, Antiope
, Ganymede
and the gorgon
Medusa
, as well as floral and geometric motifs and images of exotic animals.
The best-known of the mosaics in the museum is the depiction of the gorgon Medusa, which covers the floor of the tablinum
, or office of the house's owner, which is 8 by 8 m (26.2 by 26.2 ft) in size. The image of Medusa
is surrounded by a round geometric shield, the shield of Athena
. Despite the gorgon's reputation as a horrible monster and the presence of snakes instead of hair, the image in the Museum of Mosaics is rather tame and not particularly frightening. Instead, the role of the mosaic was that of a talisman
to protect the home from the forces of evil. Medusa is depicted with her face turned slightly to the right, though with her eyes staring left. Tiles of various shades have been employed in order to lend volume to the image.
The mosaic of Zeus and Antiope lies on the floor of the cubiculum, or bedchamber of the villa, which measures 5.6 by 4.4 m (18.4 by 14.4 ft). Angelov claims that the image in the House of Antiope is among the few contemporaneous depictions of that episode. As in mythology, Zeus is portrayed as a young satyr
who kidnaps Antiope, attracted by her beauty. The mosaic is accompanied by two inscriptions in Ancient Greek
, which explicitly label the characters as ΣΑΤΥΡΟΣ ("satyr") and ΑΝΤΙΟΠΗ ("Antiope").
Other mosaics in the villa include the story of Ganymede, who is transported to Mount Olympus
by Zeus transformed into an eagle, which covers the oecus
, the largest premise; the badly damaged Seasons mosaic in the women's apartments, which features images of animals, geometric motifs and personifications of the four seasons, of which Autumn has been preserved; and the geometric Pannonia
n Volute
s mosaic, moved to the museum from another ruined ancient building of Marcianopolis.
Devnya
Devnya is a town in Varna Province, Northeastern Bulgaria, located about 25 km away to the west from the city of Varna and The Black Sea Coast. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Devnya Municipality...
in Varna Province, northeastern Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. The museum, built on top of a large ruined Roman villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
from Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
, exhibits mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
s from the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
and early Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
city of Marcianopolis
Marcianopolis
Marcianopolis or Marcianople was an ancient Roman city in Thracia. It was located at the site of modern day Devnya, Bulgaria.-History:...
, as well as other archaeological artifacts.
Villa and museum
The museum was founded as a result of archaeological research beginning in 1976, which uncovered the House of Antiope, a Late Roman villa decorated with floor mosaics. The villa was constructed in the late 3rd or early 4th century AD, perhaps during the rule of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (r. 306–337). Constructed on the site of earlier buildings destroyed during the GothicGoths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
raids in 250–251, it was abandoned in the 7th century due to Avar
Avars
Avar or Avars may refer to:* Eurasian Avars, a nomadic people that conquered the Hungarian Steppe in the early Middle Ages* Uar * Caucasian Avars, a modern people of the Caucasus** Avar language, the language of the Caucasian Avars...
and Slavic invasions.
The villa is nearly square in shape, measuring 37.15 by 37.75 m (121.9 by 123.9 ft). It features 21 rooms situated around an inner courtyard (atrium
Atrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
) with a well; the rooms have a total area of 1409 sqm. The museum lies in a small park, with a well-preserved Roman street
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
crossing under the building. Around the museum are several ancient walls, which, along with the villa, constitute most of the preserved ruins of Marcianopolis. The museum building only covers the western part of the villa; its eastern wing and the atrium are not covered. Many of the villa's walls were decorated with fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es and stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
, while the floors of the portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
and five premises were covered by elaborate mosaics. In addition to mosaics, the museum displays items pertaining to the Roman villa itself and to the life of its inhabitants.
The modern museum building was built to the design of architect Kamen Goranov. Museum curator Anastas Angelov has criticised the construction, claiming that 90% of the building's weight is carried by the Roman ruins. As of 2008, visible cracks were threatening the building, which was also sinking due to groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
. In 2005, the museum was visited by a record 10,000 people; in 2006, the annual visitors were around 8,000. The Museum of Mosaics in Devnya is listed as #10 among the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria
100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria
"100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria" is a Bulgarian national movement established in 1966 to promote tourism among Bulgaria's most significant cultural, historic, and natural landmarks....
.
Mosaics
Three of the mosaics are exhibited in situIn situ
In situ is a Latin phrase which translated literally as 'In position'. It is used in many different contexts.-Aerospace:In the aerospace industry, equipment on board aircraft must be tested in situ, or in place, to confirm everything functions properly as a system. Individually, each piece may...
and the remaining have been moved from their original locations in order to be conserved and restored. As a whole, the mosaics were laid out using the opus tessellatum
Opus tessellatum
Opus tessellatum refers to a type of mosaic made from tesserae. Opus tessellatum is usually used for background consisting of horizontally or vertically arranged lines ....
(tiles aligned in horizontal or vertical lines) and opus vermiculatum
Opus vermiculatum
Opus vermiculatum is a type of mosaic which draws an outline around shapes using tesserae. This can be one or more rows and then contrasted in the background, typically with Opus tessellatum. The outline created is often light and offset by a dark background for greater contrast...
(tiles aligned so as to draw an outline around the shapes) techniques. The tiles were made of marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
, limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and coloured glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
and include 16 colour varieties.
Despite the rise of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
during the reign of Constantine, the mosaics in the House of Antiope are exclusively pagan in character. They feature depictions of characters from Greek
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
and Roman mythology
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
such as Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
, Antiope
Antiope (mother of Amphion)
In Greek mythology, Antiope was the name of the daughter of the Boeotian river god Asopus, according to Homer; in later sources she is called the daughter of the "nocturnal" king Nycteus of Thebes or, in the Cypria, of Lycurgus, but for Homer her site is purely Boeotian. Her beauty attracted Zeus,...
, Ganymede
Ganymede (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Ganymede is a divine hero whose homeland was Troy. Homer describes Ganymede as the most beautiful of mortals. In the best-known myth, he is abducted by Zeus, in the form of an eagle, to serve as cup-bearer in Olympus. Some interpretations of the myth treat it as an allegory of...
and the gorgon
Gorgon
In Greek mythology, the Gorgon was a terrifying female creature. The name derives from the Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful." While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a...
Medusa
Medusa
In Greek mythology Medusa , " guardian, protectress") was a Gorgon, a chthonic monster, and a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. The author Hyginus, interposes a generation and gives Medusa another chthonic pair as parents. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone...
, as well as floral and geometric motifs and images of exotic animals.
The best-known of the mosaics in the museum is the depiction of the gorgon Medusa, which covers the floor of the tablinum
Tablinum
In Roman architecture, a tablinum was a room generally situated on one side of the atrium and opposite to the entrance; it opened in the rear on to the peristyle, with either a large window or only an anteroom or curtain...
, or office of the house's owner, which is 8 by 8 m (26.2 by 26.2 ft) in size. The image of Medusa
Gorgoneion
In Ancient Greece, the Gorgoneion was originally a horror-creating apotropaic pendant showing the Gorgon's head. It was assimilated by the Olympian deities Zeus and Athena: both are said to have worn it as a protective pendant...
is surrounded by a round geometric shield, the shield of Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
. Despite the gorgon's reputation as a horrible monster and the presence of snakes instead of hair, the image in the Museum of Mosaics is rather tame and not particularly frightening. Instead, the role of the mosaic was that of a talisman
Talisman
Talisman have several meanings:*TalismanBooks and novels* The Talisman , a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott* The Talisman , a novel by Stephen King and Peter Straub...
to protect the home from the forces of evil. Medusa is depicted with her face turned slightly to the right, though with her eyes staring left. Tiles of various shades have been employed in order to lend volume to the image.
The mosaic of Zeus and Antiope lies on the floor of the cubiculum, or bedchamber of the villa, which measures 5.6 by 4.4 m (18.4 by 14.4 ft). Angelov claims that the image in the House of Antiope is among the few contemporaneous depictions of that episode. As in mythology, Zeus is portrayed as a young satyr
Satyr
In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
who kidnaps Antiope, attracted by her beauty. The mosaic is accompanied by two inscriptions in Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
, which explicitly label the characters as ΣΑΤΥΡΟΣ ("satyr") and ΑΝΤΙΟΠΗ ("Antiope").
Other mosaics in the villa include the story of Ganymede, who is transported to Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, about 100 kilometres away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks. The highest peak Mytikas, meaning "nose", rises to 2,917 metres...
by Zeus transformed into an eagle, which covers the oecus
Oecus
Oecus, the Latinized form of Gr. oikos, house, used by Vitruvius for the principal hall or salon in a Roman house, which was used occasionally as a triclinium for banquets....
, the largest premise; the badly damaged Seasons mosaic in the women's apartments, which features images of animals, geometric motifs and personifications of the four seasons, of which Autumn has been preserved; and the geometric Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
n Volute
Volute
A volute is a spiral scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals...
s mosaic, moved to the museum from another ruined ancient building of Marcianopolis.