Municipality of Capljina has on its area several significant cultural and historical monuments, such as old towns Pocitelj and Gabela, sites from the Roman period on the Visica locality, underwater archeological site Desilo-Hutovo blato, and Mogorjelo.
Mogorjelo is a unique archeological monument from the Roman Period, it is a well preserved old Roman villa Rustica, located near Capljina, in a south part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This cultural monument is one of the most beautiful buildings of late antique architecture in the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It is declared as the National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the end of 2002.
Cultural, historical and scientific significance of Mogorjelo could be seen through its closeness to the Roman town Norona. Old Itals began to settle the environment of that town. This is corroborated by an inscription from Tasovici erected in honor of Octavian and his victory and conquest of Sicily in 36. BCE.
Since then actively settling of Itals begins, and it was the most intensive at the beginning of the 1st century when colonists from Norona, also possibly from Ad Turres near Tasovici, have built a farm, for the purpose of supplying Narona. There are many such villages near Norona, and only villa Rustica in Visici has been researched, which dates from the 2nd century. All those villages confirm the settlement of the Neretva valley at the beginning of the 1st century or at the latest in the time of Emperor Tiberius.
Archeological excavations of Carlo Patsch from 1899 to 1903 showed that the building complex in Mogorjelo is consisted of several stages. The oldest buildings date back to the 1st century when locality was agrarian center (villa Rustica Fructuaria). There were a few buildings that were connected with corridors and in the middle was a residential building, bath and a building for agricultural production. Also there was an oil mill, mill and a bakery. Brickyard, workshop for making ceramic vessels and stable were built outside the complex.
(Source: Klix.ba)
