Po redaktohet Tauresium

{{Infobox ancient site
  |name = Tauresium
  |alternate_name = Gradište
  |image = Tauresium, Macedonia2.JPG
  |alt = 
  |caption = Remains of building walls in Tauresium
  |map_type = Macedonia
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  |coordinates = {{coord|41|53|53|N|21|36|41|E|display=inline,title}}
  |location = [[Taor]], [[Skopje Statistical Region]], [[North Macedonia]]
  |region = [[Kingdom of Dardania|Dardania]]
  |type = Settlement
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  |epochs = <!-- actually displays as "Periods" -->
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  |archaeologists = [[Arthur Evans]]
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  |website = {{URL|http://www.tauresium.info/english/}}
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'''Tauresium''' ([[Latin]]; {{lang-mk|Тауресиум}}), today as '''Gradište''' ({{lang-mk|Градиште}}), is an archaeological site in [[North Macedonia]], approximately {{convert|20|km|mi}} southeast of the capital [[Skopje]]. Tauresium is the birthplace of Byzantine Emperor [[Justinian I]] (ca. 482) and King [[Theodahad]] of the [[Ostrogoths]] (480).<ref>{{BBKL|t/theodahadus_f|band=11|autor=Wolfgang Kuhoff|artikel=Theodahadus, Flavius, König der Ostgoten 534-536|spalten=824-832}}</ref><ref name="taor">{{cite web|url=http://www.tauresium.info/|title=Archaeological site Tauresium|language=mk, en|access-date=26 January 2011|publisher=Museum of the city of Skopje|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304020404/http://www.tauresium.info/|archive-date=4 March 2011}}</ref>

== Location and general characteristics ==
{{expand section|date=February 2017}}
[[File:Tauresium, Macedonia3.JPG|thumb|left|220px|Remains of the ancient town of Tauresium]]

Tauresium is located in [[Zelenikovo Municipality]], near the village [[Taor]], some {{Convert|20|km|mi}} southeast of Skopje. The site was discovered by British archaeologist [[Arthur Evans]] in the late 19th century. According to [[Justinian I|Justinian]]'s biographer [[Procopius]], the Emperor was born in Tauresium in 482, more precisely in the castle of [[Baderiana]], which is near the modern village [[Bader (village)|Bader]].

In the book ''[[De aedificiis]]'' by [[Procopius]] he states:

{{Quote|"...Among the Dardanians of Europe who live beyond the boundaries of the Epidamnians, close to the fortress which is called Bederiana, there was a hamlet named Taurisium, whence sprang the Emperor Justinian, the founder of the civilised world. He therefore built a wall of small compass about this place in the form of a square, placing a tower at each corner, and caused it to be called, as it actually is, Tetrapyrgia. And close by this place he built a very notable city which he named [[Justiniana Prima]] (this means "first" in the Latin tongue), thus paying a debt of gratitude to the home that fostered him..."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Procopius/Buildings/4A*.html | title=The Buildings of Procopius}}</ref>}}

The similarity in the names of Taoresium and Barderia as Taor – {{Lang|mk|Таор}} and Bader – {{Lang|mk|Бадер}} was brought to attention by [[Antun Mihanović]], the First Austrian Konzul 1836–1858 and proposed to the writer Hun, who stopped on his journey to investigate the location, which is noted in the book {{Transl|mk|Stara Srbija i Makedonija – Spiridion Gopčević}}. The stories from the local peasants and badly damaged Cyrillic script were not sufficient to prove the theory initially, but later in the Monastery of St.John in [[Veles, North Macedonia|Veles]], Cyrillic writings were presented to him after which he concluded that this the same Byzantine City of Tauresium, birthplace of [[Justinian I]]  who laid the foundation for [[Byzantine Empire under the Justinian dynasty|The First Golden Age]] of [[Byzantine Empire|The Byzantine Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=PTXdO57YGIcC&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA39 |title=Stara Srbija i Makedonija |last=Gopčević |first=Spiridion |date=1890|language=sr}}</ref>

Tauresium and the castle Baderiana were destroyed in an earthquake in 518 and the epicentre of the earthquake was in the nearby city of [[Skupi]]. As a gesture of gratitude to his birthplace, Justinian I rebuilt the city. According to the excavations that have been done so far, it is estimated that the oldest parts of Tauresium date from the 4th century and this oldest part is a castle with four towers known as ''Tetrapirgia''. Regarding Baderiana, Procopius states that it "is a settled castle with oddments from the IV-VI century".<ref name="taor" /> ''Baderiana'' or the modern Bader is located 6&nbsp;km east of Tauresium and Taor.

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110304020404/http://www.tauresium.info/ tauresium.info] - web page dedicated to Tauresium.

{{Skopje}}

[[Category:Archaeological sites in North Macedonia]]
[[Category:Former populated places in the Balkans]]
[[Category:Justinian I]]
[[Category:Zelenikovo Municipality]]