Western gate of Serdica

The Western gate of Serdica is an immovable cultural value of national importance. Its research began in 1974 to 1980 by a team of the History Museum of Sofia. At this stage were discovered, explored and exposed: part of the western fortress wall; the north tower from the gate; parts of the main antique street (decumanus); northwest angular triangular tower; antique channel; buildings inside the fortified town; fragments of mosaic of an impressive size building in the northeast, and more. The gate is located in an axis with the Eastern Gate and both have been connected to the main street of Serdica with an east-west direction (decumanus maximus). The north pentagonal tower and the passage between the two towers to the inside of the fortress were revealed and explored from the gate. The potern of the two towers at the gate took the defenders of the town out. The archaeological excavations were resumed in 2011-2016 by Sofia Municipality leading to the discovery of one of the main streets of the ancient city that led to the Western gate. The part of Serdica adjacent to the gate was densely populated, and had water pipelines and sewerage that were repaired numerous times. In 2012, the archaeologists unearthed seven-color floor mosaics with geometric motifs from the first half of the 4th century, i.e. the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine I the Great (r. 306-337 AD), inside a building which is believed to have been a large basilica with a colonnade and three parade entrances. Today the ruins of the Western gate are located in the downtown of the Bulgarian capital Sofia next to the St. Joseph Catholic Cathedral.

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