Viminacium Archeological Park | Danube, Serbia

The Ruins of Viminacium, also called Municipium Aelium, lie 7 miles (12km) from Stari Kostolec in Serbia, wher the river Mlava joined the Danube.
It was a Legionary Fortress and the capital of the Roman Province of Moesia Superior. The Fort was occupied by the Legio VII Claudia between c.58-c.300 CE. It was also the Naval base for the Roman Navy on the Danube.

Located at Put za Viminacium, Stari Kostolac, Serbia.
The Park is located on the site of the city of Viminaciuma and contains reconstructions and Remains of the Roman buildings, such as the Amphitheatre, Baths, Mausoleum and Tombs and parts of the Aqueduct.
It is one of the largest archeological sites covering over 1,100 acres (450 hectares ) and requires a ride in a small tourist bus or car to access each area.
The excavations unearthed a complete Doctors set of instruments from the Army Hospital. These were found to be identical to modern optical instruments, not previously thought to have existed during the Roman period.
The remains of several Roman vessels, some belonging to the Roman Navy, have been dug up and will be the basis of a future museum of ships.

16,000 graves have been excavated from the site, revealing that the people who lived here came from all over the Roman Empire including the Middle East.
The Mausoleum is thought to hold the Remains of Hostilian who reigned briefly in 251 CE before dying of the Plague of Cyprian at the age of 21. This would explain why his body was buried here and not taken to Rome. His father was the Roman Emperor Decius and his brother, the co-Emperor Herennius Etruscus.
A second Mausoleum was later discovered with a statue of a young Emperor, but who’s identity remains unknown.
It is possible to visit some of the tombs where there are well preserved wall paintings that can be seen. One painting displays ‘Divina’, a name given by archeologists to a Roman Mona Lisa, a young woman whose beauty is still clearly portrayed after 2,000 years. Another tomb displays a painting of a Panther, whilst another displays the Chi Rho Christogram.
The Paintings can be seen by walking through a selection of the crypts.

The Roman Baths have been excavated and reveal six pools which had their water heated externally, while the main connecting floors were supplied by underfloor heating, the Hypocaust.
Each room had a mosaic, but these unfortunately have not survived.
Water was brought by aqueduct from a distant source and heated for the baths.

It is thought that the Amphitheatre could accommodate between either 5,000 or 12,000 spectators. Gladiators fought in the arena and there were wild animal fights, the bones of which have been found buried nearby, including those of a camel and a bear.
Annual cultural events are held in the wooden reconstructed seating of the Amphitheatre.

Recently opened is the Domus scientiarum Viminacium, a new scientific research and visitor centre, built in the style of a reconstructed Roman Villa rustica.
An adjacent dormitory for archeologists and work related visitors has also been built in the style of a small Roman military barracks.
Next to this is a children’s adventure park.

The Mammoth Park is inside the Viminacium Archeological Park.
A separate Building holds the skeleton of a female Mammoth called ‘Vike’.
The Mammoth was aged 60 years old when she fell in to a swamp and died, approximately 1 million years ago.

Over 40,000 items have been excavated from Viminacium, 700 of these were made of gold and silver.
They now reside in the National Museum of Pozarevac, and others in the Archeological Institute at Belgrade.

Viminacium was originally located on the junction of the river Mlava (River Margus) with the Danube, which has now retreated. One side was along the river Mlava and another on the Danube.
Viminacium was the Headquarters for conducting the Dacian Wars (85-106 CE) under Domitian and Trajan.
Trajan built a bridge across the Iron Gates Gorge, at its narrowest point 70 miles (115km) downstream.
Viminacium is depicted in one of the scenes on Trajan's Column in Rome.
The city was first destroyed by Attila the Hun in 441 CE, and later by the Avars in 582 CE, after which it remained uninhabited.

Capital City

The City was the Capital of Moesia Inferior, with an estimated population of up to 40,000.
The city was permitted to have its own Mint and produce Roman Coins.

Legion:

The Fort was the HQ for the Legio VII Claudia between c.58-c.300 CE, with around 5,000 soldiers.

Navy

Viminacium was a base for the Roman Navy on the Danube, the Classis Pannonica, confirmed by the excavation of several warships, one with a ram, whose length varied between 15-22m (49-66 feet). The vessels were made of oak, held together with iron cramps.

Roman Road

It was on the Via Militaris connecting the Adriatic with the Black Sea and the Aegean.

Excavations produced a rare set of eight instruments in a bronze box belonging to an eye doctor, for treating cataracts and trachoma, that are almost identical to modern instruments, showing that Roman Medicine was very advanced.
The instruments consisted of tweezers, scalpels, needles, cataract needles, stone palette and a glass balsamarium. Also found were round flat pastilles bearing an inscription describing their contents as containing Saffron. They were kept in cartridges.

Viminacium had a naval harbour, and was a fleet base for the Roman Navy on the Danube, as evidenced by the excavations of several navy galleys. Classis means Fleet in Latin.
The Classis Pannonica operated on the Danube, to the west of the Iron Gates up to to Regensburg.
Its sister fleet, the Classis Moesica, operated to the east of the Iron Gates, down to the Black Sea.

Viminacium was an important part of the Danube Limes, a Frontier Defense System consisting of a chain of Legionary Fortresses, Camps and Watchtowers along the south Bank of the Danube, which stretched from Raetia (Switzerland) to the Black Sea.
Trajan (98-117 CE) added stone walls around the Forts and Hadrian (117-138 CE) added an earth rampart along the Danube.
The western section is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Via Militaris
- Viminacium was a key fortress on the Roman Road between Belgrade and Constantinople (Istanbul).
- Belgrade-Viminacium-Sofia–Plovdiv–Istanbul
The Danube Way
- This was a Roman Military road that followed the Danube linking all the forts between Raetia (Switzerland) and the Danube Delta on the Black Sea.

Viminacium Archeological Park