The image of the Gorgon Medusa kept safe the ancient Roman villa Armira for nearly 2000 years. The richest private palace from the Roman times in Bulgaria still astonishes the visitors with its unique decoration of marble capitals and mosaics. Villa Armira is located only 1.5 km from Ivaylovgrad- Bulgarian town famous not only for its cultural heritage, but with high class red wines. The villa was built in the first century after Christ. Her first ruler was a Thracian king.
The palace extends over an area of 3600 square kilometers. The house was on 2 floors and had 22 different rooms. In the center of the first floor there is a pool with a depth of 1.60 meters and sizes 7 to 11 meters. Its bottom is covered with mosaics and the walls are made from white marble. It is decorated with marble heads of Medusa – as the mythical creatures should keep the home and its occupants from any harm. The head of Medusa welcomes the visitors also from the center of the mosaic floor.
The surrounding floors of the ancient villa are decorated with mosaic floral and geometric motifs. Among the symbols very often stands the swastika – a symbol that is supposed to bring wealth and prosperity for the palace. Undoubtedly the most interesting mosaic, however, is the image of the owner and his two children – a boy and a girl. It was made in of the bedroom of the rich family.
On the first floor were the banquet hall, the room for receptions of the guests of the master, more bedrooms, a bathroom on the Roman model and other premises. The second floor was reserved for more bedrooms and workplaces of women. The house was heated by heating misled. The floor was raised on equally spaced ceramic pipes. Between them was circulating warm air from specially built furnaces.
To explore the unique mosaics and decorations of the villa Armira you have to pay an entrance fee of 5 lev /approximately 2,5 euro/. Students and pensioners pay 3 lev or approximately 1,5 euro. If you choose to hear the story of the villa from a guide it will cost extra 5 lev.
