This is Ljubljana’s archaeological find of 2021!

Two thousand years ago, a Roman city called Emona stood on the site of the present-day Ljubljana. The city was settled by colonists from northern Italy.

(Featured head photo: Matija Lukić)

Heritage of Emona

During the Emona period, the area of modern-day Slovenia was incorporated into the Roman Empire. Not surprisingly, finds from Roman Emona still come to light in just about every construction project in the centre of Ljubljana.

Such was also the case during the recent excavations of the Roman northern Emona cemetery on Ljubljana Dunajska Cesta road, when a large number of undamaged Roman glass vessels was found.

Emona flourished from the 1st to the 5th century

Behind the scenes of archaeological excavations

One of the most interesting items however was the millefiori cup – a cast Roman vessel coloured in a mosaic technique in a floral pattern.

As it’s explained on the Instagram account of ne_odkrita_arheo_ljubljane (un_discovered_archaeo_ljubljana), known to be promoting (un)known heritage of Ljubljana ⚱️ – the product was probably imported from northern Italic workshops. They also wrote: ‘This find is exceptional, because such vessels are a very rare find in Slovenia’.

**Discover Roman city of Emona in Ljubljana!**

Exhibited at the Ljubljana City Museum

The winner of the first prize for the Roman find of the year 2021 will be be exhibited in the City Museum of Ljubljana (Mestni muzej Ljubljana) this coming spring!

As part of the International Year of Glass 2022, the City Museum of Ljubljana will unveil new Roman artefacts, discovered underneath the Dunajska Cesta road in 2021. The exhibition, opening in February, will display the wonderful and almost intact glass vessels, which were placed by the mourners in the graves of wealthy Emona citizens about 2000 years ago.

More about the exhibition here: Roman Glass from the Dunajska cesta Road • MGML