The Basilica of Lin and its beautiful mosaics

My birthday treat this year was to visit the Basilika of Lin, an archaeological site with the remains of a church dating to around the 6th century CE. The church is beautifully situated on a promontory jutting out into Lake Ohrid and overlooking the picturesque village of Lin.

The Basilica is on top of the hill to the left of the middle of the photo

Though very little of the church building now remains standing, the mosaic floors are relatively well preserved. In fact, a later church had been built on top of the Late Roman church with the mosaics. The later church, St Athanasius gave its name to the hill at the end of the promontory of Lin and which is surrounded on three sides by cliffs descending sharply to the lake. The hill is accessed from the west, with the summit about 750m above sea level, and a flat area on top measuring roughly 50 x 50 metres.

In 1967 mosaics were discovered under the partially demolished church of St Athanasius. Exploratory excavations were carried out, and then continued in 1968. The excavations showed that although some of the mosaics were damaged, large parts of them were intact – including whole rooms, but that the walls of the church were in most cases destroyed to foundation level. 

The church is of irregular design. It has an atrium with a colonnade which precedes a narthex with side annexes and a baptistery. The nave and two aisles follow a triconch shape, and a further triconch room to the north east, variously described as a chapel or baptistry. There are several tombs in and around the church, including under the narthex, and two cisterns. The most recent investigations on the hill also found traces of buildings outside the church, perhaps residential areas for the priests. 

The 1968 excavations brought to light material from two distinct time periods. The upper layer contained fragments of tiles, brick, ceramic and glass vessels and architectural elements. The discovery of six coins from the reigns of Justin (518-527) and Justinian (527-565) helped confirm the dating of this layer to the 6th century CE. The lower layer contained ceramic fragments of a variety of types from the 1st millennium BCE so it seems that the area was first inhabited in the Iron Age. Further archaeological excavations have revealed the existence of an earlier construction under the basilica dated to around the 3rd century CE. Archaeologists detected traces of burning on the mosaics in the south part of the basilica and so it seems likely that the building was destroyed by fire, perhaps as part of the Bulgarian conquests of the 7th century. 

The mosaics feature a wide range of designs, both figurative and geometric, and even an inscription from the Psalm of David. The tesserae are mainly limestone, though marble is also used and ceramic for the red tesserae. Glass is used particularly for the figural scenes. The tesserae are mostly about 1cm square and are laid in a 5cm thick mortar. Some of the mosaics are now covered for protection, but others can be seen on a visit to the site.  The fragmentary mosaic with aquatic scenes and a beautiful border with an array of fauna including bees was covered during my visit. It is clear that some of the mosaics reflect the local environment and the plants and animals that live in and by the lake. 

Photo: A. Skender (see further reading)

In addition, the mosaics reflect the usual repertoire of late antique Christian iconography such as the cantharos with vines springing from it, peacocks, doves and interlocking geometric patterns symbolising infinity. Many of these elements can be found in other religious monuments of the region and it seems likely that the mosaics were made by an atelier operating around the Ohrid area, possibly the same workshop as the one which produced mosaics at Lychnidos (Ohrid) in North Macedonia.

The variety and quality of mosaics, combined with the number of hypogeum tombs, suggest a church of some significance. Not much remains of the building itself, but a beautiful green conglomerate column can be seen near the entrance to the church. If that sole reminder of the church’s former glory is anything to go by, it must have been splendid. 

Visitors to the site will notice four modern low stone walls on the hill top. These are the base for the roof that was being erected over the remains in 2004 when a visit was made to the site by UNESCO (see photo below).  The UNESCO inspection noted that the excavation for one of the walls cut into the vault of a hypogeum tomb near the baptistry and recommended that the structure be removed.

Photo: UNESCO 2004 

The ‘Basilika’ is signposted in the village, though the winding narrow streets make the signs a little difficult to follow. Look out for the hill on your left as you drive through the village. The site was locked when we arrived, but there is a phone number on the information panel on the gate and the very kind custodian came and let us in. 

Further Reading

Arget Toçila and Elisa Sgherri. The Mosaics of Lin Basilica, Albania. 2019

https://www.chnt.at/wp-content/uploads/eBook_CHNT22_Tocila_Sgherri.pdf

Anamali Skënder. Mozaikët e bazilikës paleokristiane të Linit (Pogradec). In: Iliria, vol. 3, 1974. pp. 329-342;

UNESCO. Le patrimoine culturel dans le Sud-Est européen: Albanie. Rapport de mission 26 avril – 7 mai 2004