Risan Things to Do

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To be fair this was a trip that was ok if you have your own transport but really if you had to make a big effort getting a bus or similar I would not bother. The mosaics are displayed underneath a shelter and you get a audio guide if you want. Now here is a very important tip. You may have to ask for an audio guide, I did. When you get the audio guide fast forward the first 25 minutes, yes 25 minutes of stuff to be avoided. The first 25 mins is about the history of archaeological finds in the area which is pretty drab and then a description of this Roman Villa starts.

Overall you are likely to spend a maximum of 10 minutes at this site unless you listen to teh audio guide. However, whilst here, have a look at the church nearby, see my next tip.

Here I am at the church's Krsna Slava in Risan, Montenegro, sitting next to the priest and having a glass of pretty bad wine at 10:00 am. At that time of morning, I normally would be drinking a cup of Peet's coffee with french vanilla creamer, or even eating an oatmeal and golden raisin cookie on a REALLY good morning, but usually NOT drinking wine at 10:00 am! But, like I said, we couldn't say no to these very friendly parishoners, and there are just some people I will never say "no" to.

About one third of the people at this Krsna Slava spoke a little English, so we got introduced all around and were regaled with many interesting stories.

This turned out to be a fun and unexpected introduction to the local culture.

Risan is the site of Roman ruins and some fairly well-preserved mosaic floors that had been in a Roman house during 2nd century A.D. The excavation site is small and you can visit it in about 15 minutes.

We had a young, knowledgeable guide show us around. Like many Montenegrins, she kept apologizing about her English, which we actually thought was quite fluent. While we were there, the site was visited only by five other people. We felt quite privileged to have our own personal guided tour. If this had been in the U.S., we would never have gotten close enough to really see the floors or take pictures.

Montenegro is poor and virtually has no money to preserve ancient and valuable treasures like this site. These ruins are maintained solely by the meager entrance fee and donations.

As we were walking through the church yard at the St. Petar and Paul Serbian Orthodox Church in Risan, we came across a picnic table full of church members having at party. This was at 10:00 am, and we noted they were passing out beer and wine freely.

It turned out they were celebrating the day of the church's saint - a Krsna Slava, They immediately propelled us into the center of their party. There was no way we could refuse, so we soon found ourselves part of the group, drinking Montenegrin beer and wine from who knows where - all at 10:00 am in the morning.

The parishioners were extraordinarily friendly. Montenegro doesn't see a lot of American tourists, and they were impressed that we came from so far away and had stopped by to see their church.

Almost all of the small towns in Montenegro all have a Serbian Orthodox Church that is the centerpiece of town. This one is located in the center of Risan. Serbian Orthodox churches are named after saints. If my memory serves me correctly, this one is the church of St. Petar and Paul.

The mosaics were excaved in 1930. and conserved in 1960. During the excavations in 1971.-72. are completely excaved and conserved the foundations of the villa with their reconstructions, but it is necessary to restore one more mosaic in the western part of villa.

The mosaics cover four of many up to now discovered rooms. Three of them are treated by the geometrical motifs, but in one, together with the vegetable ornament, appeared peerless figural motif of the God of dreams Hypnos. This motif is very very rare in the world !

During the Roman rule, Risan recieved the rank of municipium, the town of romanised citizens. In the end of 2nd century, famous polycoloured mosaics were made in the villa of one of the Risan citizens.