1959, when a brand-new block of flats had to be built on the Western cliffs of Constanţa, close to the Ovid Square, an ancient wall and parts of a mosaic have been unearthed. Fortunately, all plans of building flats have been turned into plans for conservation works and research.
The mosaic-paved edifice seems to have been part of a greater system, a commercial compex near the port of Tomis, that has been built in the 4th century BC and was operating until the 7th century AD.
The room built on the cliff that descends to the sea, somewhat below the actual city, contains a 2000 square meters mosaicum, one of the biggest ever in the Roman Empire. Of it, only some 850 square meters are preserved, which accounts for about half its initial size. Some real-scale drawings show, however, what it should have looked like during the Roman times.
Interesting is the method of building the whole complex. To give the mosaicum a greater surface, some 11 vaulted rooms have been built adjoining the cliff. Half of the mosaicum has been built on those storage rooms. In this area, there was a first filling layer is one of shards and stones, a layer that has been specially leveled to the purpose of building a mosaicum. It follows a layer of mortar and rests from the construction, including pieces of marble. The third layer of mortar and broken bricks hold actually together the pebbels that build up the mosaicum.The mosaicum itself is made of geometric and floral motifs.
Earthquakes and fires, including those of ancient times, set by invaders, contributed greatly to the fact that these vaults collapsed, leading to destroying of much of the mosaicum. Now, we can see three walls of the four that surrounded the room with mosaicum. The Eastern wall is the best preserved and it is the one that gives us an idea of the way the Romans built: four rows of square bricks (0,3x0,3x0,4 meters), alternating with four rows of blocks of shell-bearing limestone. Pillasters of brick are set at a distance of 2,16 meters to reinforce the wall. At their upper end, the pillasters were connected with an arch.
The storage rooms, that are one level below the mosaicum, give a good idea what has been traded at that time – various resins, that used at either the preparation of varnishes and dyes or at the preparation of drugs and pharmaceutical balsams, or at making surfaces waterproof, or, finally, they have been used in temples because of their pleasant smell.
The complex goes one level lower, but cannot be visited, as it is now under the water level.
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