VIMINACIUM - There is nothing like it in the world!

Why Viminacium?

If for any reason we have not had the opportunity to know and love the history of the region in which we live, especially the future, people and customs, material goods, cultural heritage, then visit this archeological park, understand it and learn something because its significance is huge, and its location is accessible. And one more thing - there is hardly anything like Viminacium somewhere.

Viminacium is one of the most important archeological sites in Serbia from the time of the Roman Empire, and there is no shortage of them here. Although at first it was only a military garrison, it was only under Hadrian that it gained the status of a city with great autonomy. From Viminacium, Emperor Trajan was preparing a campaign against the Dacians, and from that point of view, his historical role is invaluable.

An interdisciplinary team of scientists working on Viminacium research, and whose desire and idea is for “squares, temples, theaters, hippodromes, baths, streets and neighborhoods to emerge from the arable land where they have been for centuries and become part of the world and our cultural heritage, but and a symbol of the recognizability of the Danube area" constantly surprising with new discoveries.

What awaits the visitors of Viminacium?

The most important place of Viminacium in the tourist sense is the Mausoleum, in which people who once held high positions in the Roman Empire were once buried, and that was not the case. It is a bustum, cremation in the Roman way, which meant that the deceased was burned on the spot, and then covered with a thin layer of earth of a few centimeters, and the whole area was closed with stone.

Thermal baths, as in other sites from Roman times, were mandatory buildings. By staying in them, you can easily understand that they were by no means just a place for maintaining hygiene, but also for socializing and various other activities. The remains of a specific architectural solution that characterizes the thermal baths in Viminacium will help you imagine the Romans who bathed there in the period from the 1st to the 4th century in pools with hot and cold water, which they entered by walking on the floors decorated with mosaics.

The amphitheater, a typical Roman building intended for manifestations such as gladiatorial fights, wild animal fights, animal hunting, naval battles, executions of convicts and other spectacles, was built in Viminacium first from wood and then from stone and could accommodate 7,000 people. Unfortunately, you will only be able to see a small part of it on the spot.

The 10-kilometer-long Viminacium aqueduct brought drinking spring water to the ancient city and military camp and was an admirable construction endeavor. Archaeologists also found bronze money in it, and based on what is still left of it, it is possible to see all the elements of its construction.

Viminacium as Pompeii of the Balkans

Many rightly and rightly compare Viminacium to Pompeii, an ancient city in Italy that has been preserved due to volcanic eruptions.

In support of this site is the fact that there is no new settlement above it, unlike other ancient cities such as Singidunum below Belgrade, Londinium below today's London, Sirmium below Sremska Mitrovica.

It should also be known that only three percent of the sites have been explored so far, which is information after which the question arises  "And then what is there in the remaining 97 percent ?!" That is exactly why the archeological site Viminacium promises so many more sensational discoveries, that it is rightly described in the media as a place where there is nothing similar in the whole world.
 

Let Viminacium be what it is

A team of 25 scientists and their associates is working at Viminacium, headed by Dr. Miomir Korać, the director of the Archaeological Institute and the man who is most deserving of the research and promotion of this archeological site.

Dr. Korać often talks about the importance of getting to know the space in which we live from different angles. Viminacium gives the angle of antiquity. One hundred kilometers away is Lepenski Vir, which takes us back to prehistoric times. The first European monumental sculpture was created there ten thousand years ago. Vinca will be available soon.

This gives a time story that lasts for thousands of years. When something is extracted from each of these weather stories and shown to young people, they may be better than us because of that, says the director of the Archaeological Institute.