Roman tomb in Brestovik () is an ancient tomb, dating from , which was discovered in 1895 in Brestovik, today a suburban village of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Though evidence points to the tomb of a wealthy local, popular belief is that the "martyrs of Singidunum", Hermylus and Stratonicus, were buried inside. As one of the most important monuments from the Roman period, the tomb is protected since 1948.
Location
The tomb is situated in the village of Brestovik in Belgrade's municipality of Grocka, on the locality of Vukašinova crkva. It is dug into the hill of Zlatno brdo ("Golden hill").
Discovery and explorations
The tomb was discovered by accident in 1895. The owner of the lot, Vukašin Milosavljević, was planting seedlings in his plum orchard, when he hit the arch of the vault with his spade. He notified the authorities and in September 1895 Mihailo Valtrović, the curator of the National Museum in Belgrade and founder of the archaeology in Serbia, was dispatched to the site. He conducted the excavations and uncovered the entire tomb. It was conserved and protected in 1905, while the excavations have been done in 1955 and 1964. In 1964 the tomb was opened for visitors and a stone stairway was built to make the site more accessible.
Characteristics
The structure was built in the late 3rd or an early 4th century. It is partially dug into the slope of the hill on which the modern village cemetery is today. The tomb is oriented in the east-west direction with the entrance being on the eastern side. It is approached by an elongated, entry section, which is cut into the slope. The tomb was built from crushed stone, river pebble and bricks, all connected with the Roman lime plaster made with volcanic sand, and itself consists of three rooms:
porch; separated by the entry section by four pillars, it was paved with the six-sided bricks. It is connected with the central room by the door and stairs, as the porch is higher.
central room; it has two side apsides, on the north and south, and was also paved with the six-sided bricks. The walls were covered with frescoes, which faded completely. The room was also ornamented with the marble statues and two figures of lions lying down. Two sculptures represented death geniuses (in the form of boys mourning the deceased) and at least one was of a sad Cupid, a winged boy sitting on a pedestal, while the lyons "guarded" the burial chamber. In one of the apsides was the life-sized sculpture of the Roman soldier (lacking the head) and a bust in Roman military clothing, which points that he was either a military commander or a high ranked clerk who was awarded with an estate. It is suggested that the room was used for sacrificial gifts to the departed. It is separated from the burial chamber by the massive wooden door and two windows.
burial chamber; it is rectangular, with the half-domed brick arch. It was also covered with frescoes which are, unlike the central room, still visible today in the chamber's inner section. They are best preserved on the walls and the ceiling. The frescoes represent a different geometry motifs, combined with the plants and animals in different colors: ochre, cinnabar, blue, green, brown and red. The southern and northern walls have the motifs of fishes and waterfowls while the west has partially recognizable human figures, probably the likes of the buried ones. The chamber contained three built sarcophagi. Part of the arch was collapsed, but was restored later, as were some of the frescoes.
The porch and the central room are partially visible from above the ground, while the chamber is completely embedded into the hill. Later excavations in 1955 showed that the complex wasn't built at the same time. The burial chamber is the oldest while the rest was built later. Today, all the rooms are empty as sarcophagi and sculptures were taken away - some looted long time ago and some disappeared after the tomb was discovered.