Road Trip: Really Old Stuff




 From Veles we drove south toward the border with Greece. We had heard about an ancient city that was still being excavated and explored, called Stobi.And it was on the way to our final destination, the city of Betola, so we checked it out.

I have not been a student of ancient history or archeology so I was not sure how I'd enjoy this excursion. But the sun was shining and the temperature was perfect and we were the only people there, so it was wonderful.  (Note to my sister: The whole area reminded me of New Mexico, including the Macedonian flag)

North Macedonia


New Mexico




Stobi was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia. It is located on the main road that goes from the Danube to the Aegean Sea (the Vardar river that runs through Skopje is nearby.)






 

 The Roman city of Stobi dates back to the second century BC, but there is evidence of human activity there dating back to the 8th Century BC. It also boasts a settlement of Jews living side by side with the Romans and eventually Christians. One of the largest buildings at the site is a synagogue.




Excavation started in the 1920s but World War Two put a  stop to that. More research happened in the past few decades but there seems to be a massive area that has yet to be unearthed. 


There are apparently exquisite mosaics on the floors of many of the buildings, but almost all were covered in plastic and pebbles during  the winter, so we'll have to go back to see more of those. 








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