Domvs Romana

The Domvs Romana was found in 1881 on the boundary between Mdina and Rabat, a wealthy townhouse of the first century BC built around a peristyle court. Its mosaic floors are the reason it matters: laid in the Hellenistic manner with very fine tesserae, they include a doves-and-basin panel and geometric work of a quality that puts them among the best surviving in the western Mediterranean. A museum was built over the remains in the 1920s.

Background

The house stood inside the Roman city of Melite and stayed in use until the 2nd century AD. Workers planting trees in Howard Gardens came upon it by chance on 3 February 1881, and at first it was wrongly called the Roman Villa because it was thought to lie outside the city. The museum opened in February 1882, the first building in Malta put up to house the finds of a single archaeological site, and it was enlarged in 1922 to designs by the architect Galizia. Finds include statues of the imperial Roman family from the 1st century AD and painted plaster imitating coloured marble. The later cemetery held at least 245 burials, with tombstones carrying Naskh or Kufic inscriptions.

Source: Wikipedia, "Domvs Romana"

The main sights

• The peristyle mosaics - fine Hellenistic floors around the central court.
• The doves panel - the best-known of the mosaic emblems.
• The house plan - a wealthy first-century BC townhouse of the Roman city.
• The later burials - Muslim graves cut into the site in the medieval period.

When to go

Year round; it is indoors and suits any weather. Mornings are quietest. It closes on some public holidays.

Things to know

It is small and the visit is short. Much of the house was destroyed by later building and burials. The 1920s museum shell around it is unsympathetic.

Nearby

Mdina is beside it, and Rabat surrounds it.

Key facts