On March 10th we headed to Macedonia. We decide for our last four day weekend to go visit a friend that we made on our first cruise while we were in Germany. Kathy and Dane picked us up from the airport and treated us to a fabulous Macedonian dinner!!! It was soooooooooo good!!! It was a four course meal and everything brought out was yummy!!!!! The next morning we were treated to a tradition Macedonian breakfast of spinach pastry. Michael doesn't like it so Kathy asked Baba Nada if she would make Michael a piece of chicken. Instead of just a piece, she cooked him a whole chicken along with homemade French fries from potatoes!!! He was spoiled!!! It was soooooo yummy and she was so nice!!! She invited us to come back and for longer the next time!! :-)
The next day, March 11th, we headed to Stobi which is located at the confluence of rivers Crna and Vardar, was the largest city in the northern part of the Roman province Macedonia. It was an important urban, military, administrative, trade, and religious center of two large empires: Roman and Early Byzantine.
Michael is always my climber!!! The archaeological site of Stobi is located in central Macedonia. The road along the valleys of the rivers Vardar and Morava is one of the oldest communication routes since prehistoric times, which historically connected Thessalonica and Singidunum (modern Belgrade).
This was the main theatre and very famous shows happened here.
They couldn't have been much taller than AJ to make it out of that tunnel.
And what did Michael want to do....... climb of course!!
If you could afford it, you had "reserved" seats. This is someone's last name.
The boys at the top of the theatre. The amphitheatre once held 7,600 visitors, only half of it remains.
Here is part of the city from up above - they are slowly excavating it but they are having funding issues. Stobi has three low terraces that leads down to the river Crna and walls with towers and gates. Between the Church and the Basilica in the village Palikura are located the necropolis from the roman, late ancient times and middle ages. The town is first mentioned in 197 BC, but archeologist found older things and buildings, dating from 7th and maybe
You can see in the back where the trees are is the river.
This is the Episcopal Balsilica, the most significant Christian building in Stobi. It is possible that the basilica was built by the bishop Budius who took part in the first ecumenical council in Nicaea in 325 AD.
Because it was winter they covered all the mosaics so they wouldn't get harmed by the sand, snow, etc. It has a three aisled concept in which the central aisle is divided from the side ones by a colonnade.
This is a picture of on of the mosaics when it is uncovered.
AJ and his smiling face!!!
Here you can see the altar of the basilica.
This is the baptistery that we saw. They cover the mosaic with a cloth and then put sand on top to make sure it won't move.
Here is a picture of it during the summer when it is uncovered. So beautiful!! I wish we could have seen it with our own eyes.
The four of us with the Macedonian flag behind us. It was a little cold and windy, but we didn't care.
This is the other side of the basilica. There was an underground tunnel to the "Casino."
This is a picture with the mosaics showing. The name "Casino" was given according to the finds in the apsidal hall with the mosaic floor and a fountain.
Two marble tables, one bronze tale and small dice were discovered in this area. Many rooms are surrounding the hall.
The Sacred street has been traced on the end of the 1st AD and till the 6th AD it has been restored several times. Episcopal Basilica, Semicircular Square, some shops and workshops at the Via Sacra are located on this street. It was 75 meters long and paved with sandstone slabs and there were colonnades with arcades on both sides.
This is called The Semicircular Square. It is a square with a semicircular colonnade for an open porch that is surrounded with 10 rooms.
This was one column that was almost complete and it was beautiful!!!
This is the Theodosian Palace which is the most representative residential building in Stobi and located in the center of town. The name was applied by the assumption that the emperor Theodosius I was accommodated here during his visit of Stobi in 388 AD.
Here are two of the columns in the Theodosian Palace. You can tell the different architecture just with the columns.
As you can see in this photo they had mosaics all over this residential house.
Here is a closer view of some of the mosaics, so detailed and beautiful!!
This is still part of the Theodosian Palace. It was built and expanded many times throughout its history.
The palace is divided into two parts which are not linked by common entrances. Because of the human remains found here, it is called "Prison." Some of the older scholars consider these facilities to be a cellar and thus a segment of the economic part of the palace.
This is the House of Peristeria. It is a complex of many rooms with residential and economic purposes which had at least two floors suggested by the discovered steps.
This was a public fountain. The water was supplied through a covered channel beneath the street. The same channel supplied the Large Bath as well. Before it flowed in the troughs the water was accumulated in a long reservoir with several pipes.
This is the large bath house. The Apoditerium (dressing room) is the largest room. On three sides they are lined with low benches made of stone and the whole room was divided in two by an arcade.
From the apoditerium you can enter the frigidarium (room with cold water) and the caldarium (room with hot air). The caldarium has an apse on the eastern side and fiver praefurnia (fireplaces) on the outside. Inside the caldarium there were small baths filled with hot or warm water. The hypocause system below the floor of the caldarium is present nowadays. The water was supplied in the caldarium through a water line supported by an arcade.
These big pots were buried underground to keep their food cold. It worked really well, the only problem was it was lined with lead so they were slowly killing themselves.
This is the Small Bath which was built close to the apse of the Synagogue Basilica.
This is called Building with Arches, later names Roman Forum when they excavated more of the building.
This is the river Crna that is on one side of the town.
This is the dog that patrols the grounds at night. They don't have anybody else, I guess this dog is pretty vicious if you are caught on the ground. We were told not to go close to the fence. Only one person can go close to the dog and even then he can't have a hat on or the dog doesn't recognize him at first.
Here is another picture of their "refrigerators" that was slowly killing them from the lead.
It is a beautiful site and you can see how windy it is since the flag is straight out.
Over in this area was the cemetery.
This is the newest excavation, it is the Palikura Basilica. Some of the older buildings were used to make this one.
After Stobi we headed up to a nunnery. We decided it was a nice afternoon for a walk.
Michael heading for the entrance.
During the summertime they have food and beverages for sale here.
The boys following Ms. Kathy through the woods.
This is a fountain
David and Dane chatting on the way back down.
They took us down to a WWII bunker. We couldn't get too close because it is not in very good condition and could fall at any moment.
For dinner we headed to a local winery. I can't tell you how AWESOME the food is in Macedonia!!! It was so good and not very expensive either!!! I love how the desert was brought out!!! It was such a wonderful day!!!! We enjoyed everything!!!
