The most impressive new archaeological museum in Bulgaria - the Bishop's Basilica of Philippolis, stuns with its size and the beauty of the early Christian mosaics exhibited inside. However, it also tells a richer and more complex story - the story of a place from Antiquity to the Middle Ages.

By far the most spectacular is the Bishop's Basilica. Erected in the 4th century in what was the centre of the town it is 90 metres long and 36 metres wide, the grandest Late Antiquity basilica in the modern Bulgarian lands. What makes it so special is not the size, however. It is the two layers of floor mosaics, a total of 2,000 square metres. The lower layer represents an intricate web of geometrical ornaments and symbols in various colours, creating a near 3D effect. The upper layer depicts over 100 birds, symbolising the souls of the faithful that longed for God.

The Bishop's Basilica of Philippopolis is also a good example of spiritual continuity. It was erected over the remnants of an earlier building, probably a pagan temple. After the 6th century, when the basilica had been abandoned, some houses appeared over it. In the 10th-13th centuries the site was a large Christian necropolis with a richly decorated church. Then, in the mid-19th century, next to what was already a long-forgotten cemetery, the St Ludwig Roman Catholic Cathedral was constructed.

Visit for:

• The exquisite mosaics and the stories they tell
• The variety of birds depicted on one of the mosaics
• The interactive storytelling
• The impressive modern architecture

www.plovdivmosaics.org