Situl Arheologic Cetatea Beroe

Beroe Fortress is located on a cliff about 30 meters high, on the Danube bank, near the Ostrov commune, where the Băroi branch joins the river. This Roman-Byzantine fortification was built on the foundations of an old Getic fortress, in the northeastern area of ​​the Moesia Inferior province in antiquity. The exact date of the erection of the enclosure is unknown, but archaeological discoveries confirm the existence of a settlement from the early Roman period. The fortress is mentioned in the old itineraries "Tabula Peutingeriana" and "Itinerarium Antonini", being known as the headquarters of a cavalry unit, then as an episcopal center.

During the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great, the fortress was restored, but during the reign of Justin II it suffered destruction following Avar-Slavic attacks, although it continued to be inhabited until the beginning of the 7th century. The last discovered coin, issued by Phocas, attests the end of the habitation in the Roman-Byzantine era. The resumption of habitation took place with the return of the Byzantines to the Lower Danube, during the reign of John Tzimiskes. The area north of the fortress housed a civilian settlement which, in turn, was overlain by the early medieval settlement of the 11th-12th centuries.

In 1898, the topographic engineer P. Polonic located the fortress, describing the enclosure as trapezoidal. A few decades later, C. Moisil described it as having an octagonal shape, the differences between the two observations raising questions about the accuracy of the visible outline of the enclosure. Starting in 1958, the archaeologist A. Petre investigated a vast necropolis located north of the fortress, dating from the Roman, Romano-Byzantine and early medieval periods, discovering over 1100 tombs, as well as a Paleo-Christian basilica active between the 4th-6th centuries AD.

Between 1971 and 1973, D. Vâlceanu and Al. Barnea conducted archaeological research in the fortress, reaching in some sections the last level of Roman-Byzantine habitation, dating from the second half of the 6th century. Several rural settlements from the early Roman era were identified, including "villae rusticae" and tumulus necropolises, belonging to the area dependent on the fortress of Beroe.

The research was resumed in 1998 and led to the discovery of significant archaeological material: ceramic vessels, amphorae, bowls, opaites, tools, ornaments and coins. Between 1998 and 2002, a team led by D. Paraschiv continued the explorations, finding that the southern and western portions of the Roman enclosure collapsed into the Danube, and the northern and eastern ones towards a ditch that separated the fortress from the civilian settlement. At the same time, Bronze and Iron Age complexes were discovered, as well as three levels of habitation from the Roman and Romano-Byzantine periods (2nd–7th centuries), largely destroyed by early medieval interventions (11th–12th centuries).

The early medieval archaeological layer revealed 19 habitation complexes, most of them semi-buried or on the surface, of which only one was fully investigated. These included horseshoe-shaped ovens and household pits, as well as a stonemasonry made directly in the ground. The objects discovered included ceramics (vases, amphorae, jugs), ornaments, coins and animal bones, of which only those with a certain early medieval provenance were analyzed. The only Roman construction identified was a basin, previously considered either a fortress wall or a Romano-Byzantine tower.

In the civil settlement to the north of the promontory, two levels from the 2nd-3rd centuries and one Roman-Byzantine were found, all superimposed by early medieval complexes. On most of the promontory, the layers prior to the 11th century were destroyed, which was observed in the researched sections, including a main section oriented south-north. In addition to common Roman pottery, fragments of "terra sigillata", glass and metal objects were found, which can contribute to the understanding of the economic life and historical evolution of the Beroe site.

The superimposition of several levels of habitation on the same territory demonstrates the strategic and economic importance of this area in Dobrogea antiquity.

Sursa: ziarulnatiunea.ro