Story
The story of Gamzigrad
For a long time explorers thought these massive walls and towers near Zaječar were a Roman army camp. Excavations begun in 1953 showed they were something far more personal: an imperial palace. Emperor Galerius, adopted son and son-in-law of Diocletian, began building it in 298, after a victory over the Persians, to mark the place of his birth.
He named it Felix Romuliana after his mother Romula, a priestess of a pagan cult. Inside the walls archaeologists found two temples, two palaces, baths, fine mosaics of Dionysus and Medusa, porphyry portraits of emperors and hoards of gold coins. On the nearby Magura hill, Galerius and Romula were buried and deified in two mausoleums.
The mystery of the site was finally solved in 1984, when an arch bearing the inscription FELIX ROMULIANA was discovered. The palace survived until the Huns plundered it in the 5th century, and today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This story is compiled from Wikipedia and other open sources; dates and numbers are checked against the source. The text is shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Source ↗
Hear this story on the spot, in a natural voice
On Sightlore, the story of Gamzigrad is narrated in a natural voice in 5 languages. When you arrive, say "I'm here" and get your passport stamp.
8 more stories from Danube & Eastern Serbia in the app
More highlights in Danube & Eastern Serbia
- Lepenski VirLepenski Vir, located in Serbia, is an important archaeological site of the Lepenski Vir culture (also called as Lepenski Vir-Schela Cladovei culture).
- GolubacThe Golubac Fortress was a medieval fortified town on the south side of the Danube River, 4 km (2.5 mi) downstream from the modern-day town of Golubac, Serbia and 2 km (1.2 mi) across the Danube from the village of Coronini, Romania.
- Tabula TraianaThe Tabula Traiana or Trajan's Plaque is a Roman memorial plaque found on the Serbian side of the Iron Gates of the Danube. The plaque was erected by Roman Emperor Trajan to commemorate the completion of his military road along the Danube.
- FetislamFetislam is a fortification situated a few kilometers upstream from the town of Kladovo, on the right bank of the Danube in Serbia. It has a status of a cultural monument of great importance in the Republic of Serbia.
- Silver LakeSilver Lake or Srebrno Lake is an oxbow lake along the right Danube bank in the Braničevo region in eastern Serbia, near the town of Veliko Gradište. It is a popular tourist resort.
- Smederevo FortressThe Smederevo Fortress is a medieval fortified city in Smederevo, Serbia, which was the temporary capital of Serbia in the Middle Ages.