Ulpiana
Encyclopedia
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....
city located in what is today Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
. It was also named Justiniana Secunda. Ulpiana is situated in the municipality of Lipljan. In 1990, Ulpiana was added to the Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance
Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance (Serbia)
Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance are the archaeological sites in the Republic of Serbia that have the highest level of the State protection, and some of them are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites....
list, protected by Republic of Serbia.
History
Under the Roman Empire, Ulpiana flourished and it is mentioned as a glorious city "urb splendidissma". Ulpiana suffered numerous attacks from barbarian tribes (HunsHuns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
, Goths
Goths
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....
), it was destroyed in 479
479
Year 479 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Zeno without colleague...
when the Goth King Theodemir
Theodemir
Theodemir was king of the Ostrogoths of the Amal Dynasty, and father of Theodoric the Great. He had two "brothers" actually brothers-in-law named Walamir and Widimir. Theodemir was Arian, while his wife Erelieva was Catholic...
sent his son Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...
with 3,000 soldiers to destroy the city. A final blow came when an earthquake struck in 518 AD and destroyed what remained of Ulpiana.
Procopius writes that "He (Justinian) rebuilt all the falling walls of the city (Ulpiana) and after he decorated them with a splendour, he gave them the beauty of the present day and called them "Justiniana Secunda"."
In the 6th century during the rule of Justinian the city was rebuilt, after whom it was called Iustiana Secunda.
Remains of this city - destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout history, with basilica, mosaics, and tombstones - have been unearthed west of Gračanica
Gracanica, Kosovo
Gračanica is a town and municipality in central Kosovo, and a Serb enclave centered around the Gračanica monastery, located ten kilometers away from Pristina...
. In the early Christian period, Ulpiana was an important episcopal
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
center. A number of articles were discovered here such as coins, ceramics, weapons, jewellery, and similar.
The remains of the city, only partially excavated, are situated approximately 1.3 km (0.807784557644749 mi) west of Gračanica, immediately to the north of the road connecting Gračanica with Laplje Selo
Laplje Selo
Laplje Selo is a village/settlement in the Gračanica municipality of Kosovo, Serbia. Laplje Selo was part of the Pristina municipality before the Gracanica municipality was created....
. The approximate geographic coordinates (WGS84) of the excavation site are 42°36′0"N 21°10′0"E.
Ulpiana is also an older name used to refer to the present-day Pristina
Pristina
Pristina, also spelled Prishtina and Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district....
, in Kosovo.
See also
- Archaeological Sites of Exceptional ImportanceArchaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance (Serbia)Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance are the archaeological sites in the Republic of Serbia that have the highest level of the State protection, and some of them are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites....