Antiquity, 401
Small Basilica
An Early Christian basilica in Plovdiv, known for its mosaic floors.
Story of the place
How to read this place
The Small Basilica preserves a jewel of early-Christian Plovdiv: a deer stepping across a carpet of coloured mosaic beside a cross-shaped font.
- Built
- late 5th c. AD
- Size
- 20 × 13 m
- Museum since
- 2014
A fifth-century church
The basilica was built in the second half of the 5th century AD by the eastern fortress wall — three naves, one apse and a narthex, 20 m long and 13 m wide. It was abandoned towards the end of the 6th century.
Source trail: Wikipedia — Small Basilica, Plovdiv ↗Deer and doves in mosaic
The floors are covered with colourful Roman mosaics of geometric motifs; a panel of deer is especially famous. The baptistery has a cross-shaped font and mosaics of deer, doves and other Christian symbols.
Source trail: Wikipedia — Small Basilica, Plovdiv ↗Found and restored
The remains were discovered by chance in 1988 during construction of an apartment block and declared a cultural monument in 1995. Restoration began in 2010 with the support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation; the site opened to the public on 1 May 2014 as a museum exhibition.
Source trail: Wikipedia — Small Basilica, Plovdiv ↗Dating
401
Source trail: Wikipedia — Small Basilica ↗Architect/builder
not identified in the current public source
Source trail: Wikipedia — Small Basilica ↗Current status
Publicly documented archaeological or ancient site within Plovdiv’s urban fabric.
Open map ↗Public Wikidata record
Basilica in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
- Type
- church building, archaeological site and museum
- Inception
- 401
- Location
- Plovdiv
Traces and evidence
-
Description and historical context for Small Basilica.
Source trail: Wikipedia — Small Basilica ↗ -
Coordinates for Small Basilica.
Source trail: Coordinates (Wikidata) · Small Basilica ↗ -
Media and license for Small Basilica: Small basilica.jpg.
Source trail: Wikimedia Commons — Small basilica.jpg ↗
Current status
Publicly documented archaeological or ancient site within Plovdiv’s urban fabric.
Ownership, care and institutions
The public record used here does not identify a traceable ownership or management history. This page therefore shows only verified institutional and source links.
Connected people
No people are linked in the current knowledge base.
Visit and orientation
- Coordinates
- 42.14645, 24.75794 · wikidata_coordinate
- Built/date
- 401
- Architect/builder
- not identified in the current public source
Full event stream
No separate events are linked to this place.
No separate events are present for this place in the current knowledge base; use the public record, sources and description.
Around this place
No other places are linked through the same events.
No separate archive or then/now record is available for this place yet. The main image, coordinates and sources remain published.