Mosaics from the residence of Philippopolis

The representative part of the housing complex (east of the central square – agora), the so-called Residence, is interesting for its architectural structure and its rich interior. Three of its rooms are covered with mosaic floors. The mosaic of the reception hall and the mosaic from the small room are polychromatic. The composition of hexagons from the reception hall was widely used in mosaic art during 4th to 6th centuries, mainly in the Near East. The design in the small room was one of the most frequent in the mosaic art of the Early Roman era untill Late Antiquity. The mosaic floor in the third room is quite different in style and colour compared to the above two. It represents a field filled with geometric motifs, which enclose an emblema in the centre: two compartments with the same bird twice depicted inside, in two different positions. The whole composition is two-coloured, and the figures are multi-coloured, including smalt. Artistic style and technique, as well archaeological data, date the mosaic to the second quarter of the 3rd century.