STOBI ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE (ЛОКАЛИТЕТ СТОБИ ЛОКАЛИТЕТ)

This ancient site (Археолошки Локалитет Стоби/Arheološki Lokalitet Stobi) is the most important in Northern Macedonia. Among other things, it houses a theater with 7,000 seats, beautiful mosaics and several early Christian basilicas. It is about the vestiges of the ancient city of Stobi. Founded by the Peonians around the ^sixth century BC, it was then occupied by the Macedonians, Romans and Byzantines. The city benefited from a strategic position, at the crossroads of several land routes and at the confluence of the Axios (Vardar) and Erigon (Crna Reka) rivers. Covering an area of 24 ha, the site extends over 700 m in length and 350 m in width. Nowadays, Stobi is located between the R 1102 and the E-75 freeway and had an important influence. In the ^3rd century BC, it was the capital of the Peonians. This people occupied the territory of North Macedonia as well as the south of Bulgaria and Albania. But it is especially during the Roman and Byzantine period that the city knew a real rise, becoming a hearth of Christianity and even, in the^5th century, the seat of the province of Macedonia Salutaris which covered the north of Greece. The decline was then rapid: Stobi was plundered by the Ostrogoths, devastated by an earthquake in 518, before being abandoned a few decades later.

Gladiators in 3D. Among the remains, we note in particular the emblematic mosaic of the peacock, in the episcopal basilica of the ^fourth century. For Christians, this bird symbolized the resurrection. On the panels - quite succinct in explanations - we discover with astonishment a "synagogue basilica" and a "casino". In the first case, it is a former Jewish place of worship transformed into a church: the first Christians were often from Jewish communities. As for the "casino", it is in fact an episcopal residence (with beautiful mosaics) in which were discovered a bronze table with small dice. As for the great theater, it is possible to visit it with an augmented reality helmet. We find ourselves immersed in the monument as it was in the ^second century, when it was used for gladiatorial combat. In the middle of 700 virtual spectators, we follow the fighters during their preparation and during a ceremony, before seeing them fight. This visit is organized every half hour from 10am and requires registration online and then by phone.