Ulpiana Archaeological Site (Justiniana Secunda)

Situated in the open agricultural plains just one kilometer west of Gračanica and nine kilometers south of Priština, the archaeological site of Ulpiana is the most important classical Roman and early Byzantine archaeological park in Kosovo.

Founded in the early 2nd century AD during the reign of Emperor Trajan, the city received the prestigious status of Roman *municipium* and became the political, commercial, and administrative capital of the imperial province of Dardania. Situated at a crucial crossroads connecting the Via Lissus–Naissus and routes running to the Aegean, Ulpiana was a bustling center of Roman trade, metal smelting, and military logistics.

Following a catastrophic earthquake that leveled the city in 518 AD, the great Byzantine Emperor Justinian I—himself born in Dardania—commissioned the total reconstruction and fortification of the city, refounding it under the proud imperial name *Justiniana Secunda* as a regional military and episcopal stronghold.

In 2023, an international excavation team discovered a sensational Latin mosaic inscription explicitly dedicated by Emperor Justinian I and Empress Theodora to the 'city of Dardania', confirming Ulpiana's supreme imperial stature and providing one of the most significant late antique epigraphic discoveries in modern European archaeology.

During the Roman Empire, Ulpiana was a thriving urban community complete with paved stone streets, monumental civic gates, public thermal baths (thermae), temples, and an extensive necropolis featuring ornate marble sarcophagi. In the 2nd century AD, the city became associated with early Christian martyrdom: according to church hagiography, twin Christian brothers Florus and Laurus—stonemasons employed by the local Roman governor—were martyred here for dedicating a newly built temple to Christ, becoming revered patron saints of builders across the Christian world.

When Emperor Justinian I transformed the ruins into Justiniana Secunda in the 6th century, he erected an imposing defensive wall with semi-circular towers and commissioned monumental Christian basilicas. The grand Episcopal Basilica, equipped with a marble baptistery and intricate geometric mosaic pavements, served as the ecclesiastical center of Dardania until the Avar and Slavic incursions of the late 6th and early 7th centuries led to the gradual abandonment of the site.

Because the medieval settlement later shifted slightly east to Gračanica, Ulpiana was never built over by modern cities, leaving its extensive Roman and Byzantine street grid intact just beneath the topsoil. Archaeological excavations begun in the 1950s have uncovered only a small fraction of the 35-hectare protected area.

Today, Ulpiana functions as an accessible, beautifully curated open-air archaeological park. Well-maintained gravel walking trails, informative multilingual signage, and elevated viewing platforms guide visitors through the excavated Roman baths, basilica foundations, and defensive ramparts against a serene pastoral backdrop.

Gračanica Monastery

14th-century UNESCO World Heritage monastery.

Priština / Prishtina

Kosovo's capital city with National Museum.

Novo Brdo Fortress

Medieval hilltop citadel and mining ruins.