After occupying the area of present-day Ljubljana, the Romans built a colony Iulia Emona in the beginning of 1st century. The walled town had a rectangular plan with a central square – the forum. Large, often multi-unit houses were built inside the grid of streets. The remains of one of those are presented in the Emonan House archaeological park. The house of around 500 m2 was divided into individual dwelling units. These had separate entrances and access to a shared courtyard.
Judging by the high-quality building finishes and utilities, the building was home to a wealthy and respectable Roman family.
The floors of the central dwelling place was made up of a two-coloured geometrical mosaic. On the other side, the passage led to two rooms with a system of hypocaust heating. From the heating place located in the neighbouring room, hot air was channelled under the floor of the room. Apart from the floor, the walls - built from hollow bricks- were also heated by hot air.
In the beggining of the 1st century, in the area of what is now Ljubljana, the Romans built their colony of Julia Emona. From the inscription stone discovered nearly a century ago, we know that Emona already stood in the year 15, and that within it the emperors Augustus and Tiberius ordered the construction of a large public building, perhaps town walls with towers. The city was settled by colonists from northern Italy.
Emona flourished from the 1st to the 5th century. It was laid out in a rectangle with a central square or forum and a system of rectangular intersecting streets, between which were sites for buildings. Under the streets, running west-east flowed the cloaca, a major drainage channel that carried waste water into the Ljubljanica. The city was enclosed by walls and towers, and in places also by ditches filled with water. Some areas beyond the walls were also settled; the potters’ quarter behind the northern wall is well known. Along the northern, western and eastern thoroughfares into the city, from the directions of Celeia, Aquileia and Neviodunum, cemeteries were established, according to Roman custom.
From its creation to its collapse, Emona was closely tied to events in the Roman Empire. From the second half of the 4th century right up to the Hungarian incursions in the 10th century, this area was an important transit territory on the route to the Apennine peninsula. From the late 4th to the late 6th century, Emona was the seat of a bishopric. After the first half of the 6th century, there was no life left in Emona.
Today Ljubljana boasts 10 sites with remains of Roman Emona, with a circular Roman trail interlinking them. Visitors can explore them on their own or join a guided tour.
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