Archeological Site Remezijana

Remezijana is an archeological site located in Bela Palanka. It belongs to the category of cultural monuments of great importance, which was entered in the central register in 1988. The local register is kept by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments Nis. Remesiana was the seat of the episcopate (the seat of Bishop Nikita) in the 4th century. The site is located in the inner city area of Bela Palanka, on the route of the ancient road Naissus-Serdica, about 35 km from the first and about 106 km from the second center. The ramparts and the interior of the fortification have been partially explored. The necropolises were identified on the basis of random findings. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, minor amateur archeological works were performed. The first excavations began in 1956, during modern construction works and with interruptions and continue to this day. The discovered objects have been preserved. During the works on Corridor 10 near Bela Palanka, Crvena Reka settlement, Kladenčište locality, the remains of another 1700-year-old church were discovered. A rectangular fortification from the Roman and early Byzantine period and a polygonal tower were discovered on Remesiana. The settlement was probably formed early, as indicated by epigraphic findings. The status of the city of Remesiana was given in the time of Trajan. The remains of the basilica, on the western part of which there was a semicircular apse, were also discovered. Remains of ancient buildings have been discovered in the vicinity of the basilica. Outside the ramparts was a three-nave basilica with a baptistery, a villa and a necropolis. The older necropolis was located north of the city. The northern necropolis is located near the settlement of Dol, on the right bank of the Nisava, where masonry graves and vaulted tombs were found as accidental finds. The tomb with a niche, an arched vault and an entrance on the east side was discovered in 1923. One part of the finds, which the finders kept, managed to be bought by the National Museum in Belgrade, two medallions with cameos, a gold earring with a blue stone, six articles of a gold chain, Maximian Hercules' money, two glasses, an earthen court and a silver button. The two southern necropolises date back to the end of the 5th century. The most significant are the findings of cameos in gold frames with palm-shaped ornament. The cameos are made of two-layer stone, gray-blue agate and whitish opal. A female figure is shown, fine profile lines, with large eyes and hair combed into a low bun. According to the hairstyle, it can be concluded that it is a fashion from the Antonine period or from the period of the daughter of Maximian Hercules, Constantine's wife Faustus, which is indicated by the bronze medallion from Sirmium. According to this depiction, a woman between the ages of twenty and thirty and a cameo hairstyle can be dated to around 320, when, according to portraits on money, Fausta was depicted with a bun like this. Judging by this jewelry, the person buried in the tomb was high on the social ladder. A gold ring with the inscription fidem constantino was found at this site under unknown circumstances. Rings of this type were probably awarded after Constantine's capture of Nais and the conquest of Serdica. The analysis of this ""ring of loyalty to Constantine"" dates the jewelry to the period from 315 to 317, or 319. It is assumed that the ring could have been given to a prominent imperial official who was most likely a resident of Remiziana.