Les Basilicae pictae de Split: les fouilles de 1997

The research at the site known in the academic literature under the name "Ad Basilicas Pictas" which are associated the churches of St. Andrew and St. John (and sometimes also St. Bartholomew), began in the 1950s. The discoveries of that period had already provided very important information about the continuity of occupation and the construction of cult buildings on the site between the first century AD and the early middle ages. The excavations undertaken in 1997 by the Office of Conservation of the Historic Monuments of Split, allow three phases to be distinguished: 1) the first corresponds to a large classical building of rounded form, whose stratigraphy is still poorly known and which will require further research ; 2) the second phase is that of the early Christian double church : so far revealed are the northern half of the south church, the baptistery with a cruciform tank, the mosaic pavement of the north church in the north section of the excavation (over a length of 12 m), as well as sarcophagi (one with a cross in relief and the other with a curving lid), two of which contained finds, allowing this phase to be dated to the 5th-6th centuries ; 3) the third period, medieval in date, has yielded several artefacts and others are visible in the north section, overlaying the mosaic of the north church. It is still necessary to excavate and to analyse the remainder of the site on which was built the early Christian double church, above newly discovered stonework of the Roman building of rounded form, with the aim of confirming its precise plan, and ensuring its conservation and public presentation.