The geometric floors
Black and white patterns and braids.
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The Roman mosaics of Risan are the floors of a large second-century villa in the oldest settlement on the Bay of Kotor. They are among the most valuable Roman remains in Montenegro, and travel sources describe one panel as the only known mosaic showing Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep. Risan, ancient Rhizon, is first mentioned in the fourth century BC as a fortress where the Illyrian queen Teuta took refuge. It peaked in the first and second centuries AD, with about 10,000 people and huge villas, and invasions by Avars and Slavs later emptied it. Road workers found the mosaics, and Dušan Vuksan, director of the State Museum, excavated here in 1930. The villa has seven ground-floor rooms opening into one another around an atrium. You see floors of black and white geometric patterns, braids and plant forms, with the Hypnos panel in one room. The site is small and roofed, and does not take long. On Gradina hill above the site is a fortification with remains of an Illyrian acropolis. The site is 11.5 km in a straight line north-west of Kotor, on the bus route along the bay. Sources differ on opening times, one saying it closes on Mondays and in January, so check before you go. Do not step on the floors, ask about photography and do not use flash. It pairs well with nearby Perast.
Black and white patterns and braids.
A rare figure among the floors.
An old fortification above the site.
Risan town, Bay of Kotor
No, it is small and roofed, and about half an hour is enough.
Sources mention shorter winter hours and closure in January, so check first.