Domus e Palazzo Episcopale

On the north side of Piazza Capitolo, the Bishop’s Palace and Domus preserves layers of Aquileia’s history in a covered archaeological complex. The route brings together a fifth-century hall from the episcopal palace, a first- and second-century house with painted plaster, and an apsidal hall with an early fourth-century mosaic.

Why it matters

The site brings the bishop’s residence together with the Roman city beneath it. Its rooms and pavements occupy different levels, showing how the area developed over time. The apsidal hall, about one hundred square metres, contains a mosaic with marine creatures, fruit and flowering vines. It was uncovered in 2009–10 and provides evidence of the wealth of Aquileia’s episcopal centre before the city’s destruction by Attila.

What to notice

The fifth-century level includes a long hall, probably linked to the basilican complex. Its pavement is divided into two carpets by a band of yellow tesserae: one has concentric squares around a black centre; the other a repeated lozenge-and-square pattern. In the deeper Roman house, painted plaster survives on the walls. The apsidal hall closes the sequence, with a mosaic canopy motif divided into three fields by vegetal bands and decorated with fish, octopuses, shells, birds and fruit. Fragments of frescoes found during excavation depict vines, leaves, clusters and birds against a red ground.

Context and history

In the 1950s, excavations led by Luisa Bertacchi revealed three rooms identified as part of the fifth-century episcopal palace. Further excavations in 2009–10 uncovered the apsidal hall and mosaic. Investigations in 2016 reached levels of a first- and second-century house. The present covered structure, designed by Tortelli Frassoni with executive design by Mads & Associati, shelters the archaeological remains and presents them in sequence. Coins found in an exterior paved area beside the hall date that surface to the late fourth or early fifth century.