Justiniana Prima to be brought back to its original look – Thorough reconstruction, covering of acropolis and construction of tourist facilities to follow in 2020

The unique archaeological location Justiniana Prima in the territory of the municipality of Lebane, raised by Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the 6th century, should be brought back to its original look in the upcoming period, as Tanja Bogdanovic, the head of the municipal administration, announced for eKapija.

According to her, the plan is to reconstruct this location, and the project has already been forwarded to the Ministry of Culture.

As Bojan Jovic, the director of the Tourism Organization of Lebane, told our portal, the project, which was submitted to the ministry this June, will be carried out in three phases.

– The first phase of the reconstruction of Justiniana Prima, which has been recognized as part of Serbia's cultural heritage as a location of extraordinary importance, entails the preparation of the ground in the sense of utility infrastructure works. Expropriation and parcelization of land, construction of water supply and sewerage systems, construction of a parking lot for 40-50 vehicles, construction of a sanitary block, as well as electrification of the road to Justiniana Prima and the lighting of the complex with around 35 LED lighting columns and solar cells are planned within this phase – Jovic announced.

The works on the archaeological location itself would start in the second phase.

– This entails works on the acropolis, that is, the upper complex, which features a cathedral and a baptistery with the archbishopric, and the possibility of putting a roof over the acropolis will be considered as well – our interviewee said and added that the plan was to excavate a cistern, which is currently in the ground, as well as to refresh the streets.

In the third phase, Jovic emphasized, the plan is to build side tourist facilities.

According to him, in addition to the Tourism Organization of Lebane, the project of the reconstruction also involves the National Museum and the institutes for protection of cultural monuments of Nis and the Republic of Serbia, and President Aleksandar Vucic visited Justiniana Prima in early 2019 and announced state aid of 3.5 to 4 million euros.

– We are ready for the realization of this huge project and for the opening of the first public procurement procedures as soon as we get a green light from the Ministry of Culture and the funds promised by the state, which I expect to happen next year – Jovic told our portal.

He said that the visit to Justiniana Prima had increased multiple times compared to three years before. In 2016 and 2017, there were 1,000 tourists a year, in 2018 there were as many as 7,500, whereas the number of visitors in 2019 is expected to reach 10 to 12 thousand people.

– After the reconstruction, Justiniana Prima will become the biggest tourist attraction of this area – Jovic told us.

Branislava Petrovic

Opština Lebane

Turistička organizacija opštine Lebane

Ministarstvo kulture Republike Srbije

Zavod za zaštitu spomenika kulture Niš

Republički zavod za zaštitu spomenika kulture Beograd

Narodni muzej Beograd

Justiniana Prima

Iustiniana Prima

Tanja Bogdanović

Bojan Jović

Aleksandar Vučić

reconstruction of Justiniana Prima

archaological location

Byzantium

Emperor Justinian