Mozaic He-goat, Episcopic Basilica, Herakleja, Bitola, 5-6th century, Macedonia

Description of Motive

Mozaic He-goat, Episcopic Basilica, Herakleja, Bitola, 5-6th century, Macedonia.

In Heraclea, have been found remains of several amazing buildings. The floor mosaics, which represent masterpieces of early Christian art from the first and fourth centuries, stand out for their beauty.

The Episcopal Basilica of Heraclea is a rectangular, three-aisled church built by Bishop Philip in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. The Basilica is covered with floor mosaics that have very rich floral and figurative iconography.

In the place of today’s Bitola, in the 4th century BC. the Macedonian king Philip II of Macedon founded the city of Heraclea Lyncestis. The city was named after Heracles, the mythical hero and founder of the Macedonian royal dynasty Argeadi, while the epithet Linkestis, meaning “Linkestida”, comes from the name of the region Linkestida in which the city was located, and in which the ancient Macedonian tribe Linkestids lived.

During the Roman Empire, the main Roman road Via Egnatia passed through Heraclea and over the centuries the city developed into a strong economic, cultural and political center. In the early Byzantine period (from the 4th to the 6th century AD) Heraclea was also an important episcopal center.

Throughout its history, the city was often attacked, especially at the end of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century. During that period, an era of barbarism reigned in the city, so its inhabitants began to move away, which contributed to the extinction of urban life.

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Appropriate gift for a weddings, birthdays, jubilee, celebration, name day, moving into a new home …