International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Carolyn S. Snively 
Gettysburg College, Gettysburg PA, United States; 
[e-mail]
Late Antiquity in the Province of Dardania: 
The Site of Golemo Gradište at Konjuh and Its Churches
The anonymous and heavily fortified city at Golemo Gradište, Konjuh, R. Macedonia, has been 
under investigation since 1998 by an American-Macedonian team sponsored by Gettysburg College in 
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA, and the Archaeological Museum in Skopje. In 1998 the site was still 
known primarily for the unique Rotunda church, excavated by local villagers in 1919 and published 
by S. Radojčić in 1952, although Ivan Mikulčić and Viktor Lilčić had carried out surveys, and in 1995 
salvage excavations had taken place nearby. The organization and chronology of the site have been 
clarified, although the location of the hypothetical Roman settlement remains unknown. One focus 
of investigation has been the variety of residential ground plans; a second focus has been ecclesiastical 
architecture. The investigation of other Late Antique sites in the region and the discovery of previously 
unknown ones provide information about the spatial distribution of sites around Golemo Gradište 
and allow new hypotheses concerning their economic and strategic purposes. 
Although a settlement was established on the northern terrace during the 5
th
century, the 
fortress on the acropolis, the fortification walls surrounding the entire site, and the re-built town 
on the terrace appear to date from the second quarter of the 6
th
century and thus to belong to 
the Justinianic (re-)fortification of the empire. A destruction of some buildings on the terrace in 

---

552
the second half of the 6
th
century led to the abandonment of the lower town and the flight of the 
inhabitants to the acropolis, where a major destruction, tentatively dated to the early 7
th
century, 
marked the end of urban life at the site.
In addition to the Rotunda, three additional churches of the 5
th
-6
th
centuries have come to light.
Two are small extramural churches with associated burials. A small basilica, with a large vaulted tomb 
occupying the west end of its south aisle, was excavated during the salvage excavations in 1995; it 
stood ca. 300 m northwest of the city in a cemetery area used since the Roman period. A one-aisle 
church, partly investigated in 2014, lay just outside the southwest edge of the city near an ancient and 
modern road; burials were found south and east of the church. A large three-aisle basilica, centrally 
located in the lower town on the northern terrace, appears to have been the episcopal basilica of the 
city. An elegant baptistery was discovered on the south side of the basilica in 2013; its excavation was 
completed in 2015. The sculptural decoration of the basilica connects it closely with the Rotunda and 
suggests that both churches were built around the middle of the 6
th
century.
This date for construction of the episcopal basilica, perhaps a generation after the fortification 
and re-building of the city, has been confirmed by the discovery that the basilica replaced a large 
and solidly built structure, apparently of a secular nature, in the center of the lower town. But 
the basilica did not stand for more than two or three decades at most. Like the nearby Northern 
Residence, it was damaged after 560 or 565; a more precise terminus post quem may be determined 
by future investigations. Although the basilica ceased to function after a fire, it was not destroyed; 
the stages of its pillaging, occupation by squatters, and gradual collapse have been documented.