Trajče Nacev
The Winery of the Late Antique City of Bargala
Faculty of Philology
University of Goce Delčev, Štip
email: trajcenacev@yahoo.com
1. Introduction
The city of Bargala was founded in the eastern part of modern-day Republic of
Macedonia, 17 km in northeastern direction from the modern city of Štip. The city was located at
the foot of the Plackovica Mountain and on the right bank of the Kozjačka Reka River. The
locals of the near-by village of Goren Kozjak called the site by the name of “Kale.”
R. Grujić1, who wrote on the existence of archaeological remnants, gives the first
knowledge about the city; S. Mihailov2 informs us on the church of St. George and I. Venedicov3
reveals the stone block with inscriptions mentioning the city of Bargala. Concerning the
contemporary written sources, the Council of Chalcedon’s actae refer to Bargala as the
Archbishop See of the Province of Macedonia Prima4 and the Archbishop Dardanius; then in
Грујиħ, 1955: 212-215
Михајлов, 1949: 4-19
3
Венедиков, 1943: 4-19
4
Ibid., 1948: 82
1
2
1
Hierokles’ Synekdemos-by the end of the fifth century AD, Bargala belonged to the Province of
Macedonia Secunda5 and the last reference is in the vitae of the 15 Martyrs of Tiberiopolis.6
The Late Antique and Early Christian Centre of Bargala was discovered and located by
B. Aleksova in the distant year of 1967, when the first archaeological excavations of the
Episcopeum were executed. Since 1995 onwards, the scope of the excavations was widened to
include the fortification7 and from 2005 onwards, the excavations of the central area introduced a
new cultural horizon with the discovery of the City Basilica8 and a complex of living quarters.
The wine is one of the oldest and most famous alcoholic beverages known to man on the
territory of modern-day Republic of Macedonia, as well as to other regions worldwide. The wine
production excelled in regions with suitable climate for it.9 The first known wine production
comes from Anatolia in the Third Millennium BC10 and during the Early Bronze Age wine was
produced in the Tell Ta’annek region in Palestine11. Wine was produced in other regions as well,
in a time span ranging from the Iron Age to Late Antiquity.
On the territory of Republic of Macedonia, the oldest stone wine presses (Fig. 1) were
found on the site of “Gorno Pole,” near the village of Star Karaorman. Their dating belongs to
the Iron Age, in the period between the eight and the sixth century AD.12 Several wine presses
carved in bedrock are known from the region of Pelagonia 13, as well as two built with masonryПапазоглу, 1957: 256
Алексова, 1967: 74-83
7
Нацев, 2008: 40-63
8
Нацев и Фрков, 2009:157-172
9
The grapevines do not require a specific soil as they require a climate with hot summers and frigid winters. The
modern-day Republic of Macedonia has several renowned wine regions: the valley of the Vardar River, the region
of Tikveš and the middle stream region of the Bregalnica River, where the Late Antique city of Bargala was
situated.
10
Gorny, 1996: 133-171
11
Lapp, 1969:12
12
The stone wine presses were discovered by the colleague Mitko Šterjov in 2007, during the project for protective
archaeological excavations on the sites endangered by the construction of the water supply system “Zletovica.”
These stone wine presses are not published before and they are still subjected to scientific research.
13
Миткоски, 1998: 31-41
5
6
2
one dated to the Roman Period14 and one belonging to the Late Antiquity15. Two wine presses
were found at the site of Stobi, thus they belong in the region of Povardarie (the Valley of Vardar
River.)
The wine presses found at the city of Bargala and its winery will be further elaborated in
this text and attempts will be made to find the proper analogies among the finds of wine presses
and wineries from the Balkans and worldwide.
2. The Winery
The wards used for wine production (Fig. 2) were located in the northeastern wing of the
Episcopal Residence’s living quarters. Up to the second half of the sixth century AD, this section
belonged to the luxurious complex of the Episcopal Residence. After the frequent raids of the
Avars and Slavs in the second half of the sixth century AD, two thirds of these living quarters
were converted into a production section, completed with a winery, a glass workshop, a large
bread oven, and a horreum (a warehouse with 16 pithoi for grain storage.) Of the luxurious
Episcopal Residence, only the main hall with two smaller wards used for preparing and storing
food remained, as well as three wards of the northwestern wing, which were used as living
qauters.
The winery took three wards of the northeastern wing of Episcopal Residence’s living
quarters, with the total surface of 152 m² (See Plan 1.) The wards were rendered successively,
due to the production process.
14
15
Кепески, 1976: 143-157
Кепеска & Кепески, 2006: 425-439
3
2.1. Ward 1
The ward is rectangular in shape, with dimensions 5.75 x 1.85 m. The ward was built in
the middle of the sixth c. AD, with the purpose to receive the grapes after harvesting. The wall
dividing Ward 1 and Ward 2 has special openings, used for processing the grapes to the wine
presses. The entrance in the ward has not been found and the receiving of the grapes was
probably executed over the southeastern wall, which had height of 0.70 m.
The great number of finds of glass fragments introduces the possibility that this ward was
multifunctional one-during the specific month of the year, it was used for receiving/storage of
grapes, and the rest of the time, it was used as an additional space for the glass workshop,16
probably this was the place used for cooling the glass products.17
2.2. Ward 2
This ward also has a rectangular shape, with the dimensions of 7.15 x 5.75 m. The ward
was entered through a porch, with width of 1.50 m. It has two levels; the upper level held the two
built-in presses in the southeastern wall, while the lower level held stone vessels for collecting
the residue. Only one of these vessels is preserved.
The first press (Fig. 5) has rectangular shape and dimensions of 3.10 x 2.20 x 0.20 m. It
was located in the northeastern corner of the ward. The second press (Fig. 6) has the same form
and dimensions of 2.60 x 2.40 x 0.20 m and it was located in the southeastern corner. Due to the
proximity of the entrance and the lack of space because of it, the second press is 50 cm smaller
than the first one. The space between the presses has the dimensions of 2.60 x 1.20 m. The floor
of this space was covered with yellowish, compact clay.
16
The wards for wine production were found during the archaeological excavations of 2007-2010, under the
supervision of Trajče Nacev.
17
The glass workshop was situated in the ground-level rooms of Tower 7, which flanks Ward 1.
4
The construction method used for the wards is presented on Fig. 7 and Drawing 1. The
location of the presses was erected 0, 50 above the floor level, on a previously built substructure
with the height of 0, 20 m, made of rough stone connected with mud. Above the substructure, a
level of carved stone and lime mortar, with the height of 0.20 m was layered. On this leveled
floor, a brick and horasan mortar wall was erected, built with the technique of opus testaceum to
the height of 0, 40 m. The presses’ floor is layered with a 0.20 m high substructure of river stone
and lime mortar. This served as support for the horasan mortar embedded with floor bricks. The
internal walls of the presses were covered with fine horasan mortar. The rear part of the presses’
floor is higher than the frontal one for 0.15 m, thus enabling a slope for better flow of the grape
must. Both presses have openings in the frontal walls (Press 1 has an opening in the southeastern
corner and Press 2 has an opening in the southwestern corner) to conduct the must through the
clay tubes to the stone vessels for collecting the residue. In the middle section of the frontal walls
both presses have incised draining canals to conduct greater amounts of must directly to the
stone vessels, instead waiting for the must to overflow from the top of the walls.
The walls above the presses were covered with the same, fine-quality horasan mortar as
the one used for the internal side of the walls. This was used to preserve the hygiene, to avoid
small pieces of mortar to fall during the crushing of the grapes with feet and thus decreasing the
quality of the wine. The stone vessels for collecting the residue were located in the lower level of
the ward. Only the stone vessel from Press 2 is preserved (Fig. 8), the other is missing. The stone
vessels were semi-buried in the floor. This vessel has a semi-circular form, carved in stone with
the following dimensions: height is 0.70 m, the diameter of the lip is 1 m, the thickness of the
walls is 0.10 m, and the total volume is c. 100 liters.
5
The floor of the lower level is a dirt one, though I do not exclude the possibility that it
was a paved one and the paving stones were re-used after the city was devastated and burned.
The walls of this part of the ward were not covered with mortar.
2.3. Ward 3
This ward (See Fig. 9 and Plan 2) is the biggest one, with dimensions: 16.85 x 5.75 m and
covers the ground of c. 100 m². The ward was separated in two sections, with a double entrance
that had double arches, carried by to built-in columnettes and one central columnette, topped
with an Ionian capital. This luxurious entrance belonged to the Episcopal Residence and the
same plan was preserved after the adaptation of the ward for the winery’s needs. The ward was
entered via a 1.40 m wide porch, almost identical with the one of Ward 1.
The floor of the ward was covered with paving stones and an open drainage runs the
whole length of the ward and it adjunct a covered one that ends outside. The ward communicated
with Ward 2 through a 1 m wide entrance in the southeastern wall, which built over some in
some later period. The southwestern wall also bears marks of interventions. While this ward was
still part of the Episcopal Residence, it had two more entrances that communicated directly with
the porch, but during the mid-sixth century adaptation they were built over. There was another
entrance built over, which communicated directly with the northwestern wing of the living
quarters.
The function of this room, as its dimensions confirm it, was for fermentation and brewing
of the wine. The drainage was used for washing the big amphorae and vessels used for storing
the wine. The section near the northeastern wall was not paved and most probably this was the
location for storing the amphorae. During the archaeological excavations, no freestanding
6
artifacts were found. This implies that the winery’s amphorae were moved to a safer location,
before the city was burned and devastated.
3. Wine Production Method
In the Antiquity, the wine production was a special skill, composed of three basic steps:
crushing the grapes with feet to get the juices, sedimentation to lose the residue and storing the
must in pottery vessels where it would ferment due to yeasts and malolactic bacteria, which can
be found in grapes themselves. After the three steps of production are completed, the wine was
contained amphora-like pots, mostly sealed with lead. Such was the amphora discovered as a
stray find near the village of Zagorci.18
The contemporary process of wine making follows the three main steps: crushing the
grapes, fermentation (with or without wine yeast) which is executed into special vessels for that
purpose only. After the fermentation, which can last from six to nine days, the young wine is
collected into inox tanks or large, wooden barrels. The final touches leave the wine free of any
residue, and then it is poured in glass bottles.19
The winery of Bargala employed the three steps of wine making, as well. The grapes
were stored in Ward 1 and the openings were used to push the grapes into the presses where it
was crushed with feet. The must was collected into large, semi-circular stone vessels that held up
to 100 liters. After the first sedimentation, the wine was transferred into large pottery vessels into
Ward 2, where the wine fermented. Then the wine was stored and kept for trade and
consummation in large amphorae, also in Ward 3. So far, analogies for the winery of Bargala as
18
This amphora is a private property and I would like to express my gratitude to its owner, Mr. Risto Stojanov, for
the kindly given information.
19
I would like to express my gratitude to the employees of the Bovin Winery in Negotino, for their information on
the modern wine producing techniques.
7
a building complex were not found; the only analogies found concern the wine presses and the
stone vessel for collecting residue.
Frankel20 distinguished two types of presses, a typology based on the wine and olive
presses discovered in the region of Palestine and their technical and functional features. The
simple wine presses with floor for crushing the grapes with feet and a sedimentation vessel
belong to the first group. The second group is made of the wine presses floor for crushing the
grapes with feet and a sedimentation vessel, and a simple wooden weight for pressing.
The presses from the winery of Bargala belong to the first type according the typology of
Frenkel-the simple wine presses floor for crushing the grapes with feet and a sedimentation
vessel. On the base of the technical and functional features, closer analogies from the Republic
of Macedonia can be found among the wine presses from Stobi21, the press from Pelagonia22, the
presses from Italy23, as well as the wine presses carved in bedrock from Anatolia, in the regions
of: Western Phrygia24, Lycia, Cilicia, and Caria25, Palestine26 and many other locations.
4.Conclusion
The discovered wine presses in the middle stream region of the Bregalnica River, on the
sites of Gorno Pole, the large wine amphora found near the village of Zagorci, and above all, the
building complex in Bargala, purposed for production, storage and wine trade indicates an
organized, local production; not a local or individual wine production.
20
Frankel, 1999: 145 -149
The Director of the site, Silvana Blaževska (MA), informed me on the existence of such presses in Stobi. The two
presses are not completely discovered, though the current state betrays remarkable resemblance with the presses
from Bargala.
22
Кепеска & Кепески, 2006: 425-439
23
Rossiter, 1981: 345-361
24
Sivas, 2003: 11-16
25
Diler, 1994: 505-520
26
Frankel, 1999: 51-59
21
8
One can argue that the region of Bregalnica was involved with the cultivation of
grapevines and wine making since the Iron Age (eight-sixth c. AD) and it was a tradition carried
well into the Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Today, this region continues this tradition in
growing grapevines in the very vicinity of the abovementioned sites of Bargala and Gorno Pole,
as well as near the villages of Gorni Balvan, Dolni Balvan, Tri Češmi and Zagorci. The region
has several renowned wineries: Zik Crvena Zvezda27, Imako, Anevski and Bovin.
27
Unfortunately, this winery met its demise during the last decades of the 20 th century. Yet, due its high-quality
production and the most famous wine, bearing the name of another Classical city, Astibo, I feel obliged to include it.
9
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31-41. [Mitkoski, A. (1998): “The Ancient Wineries in the Region of Prilep,”
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10
Sivas, T.T. (2003): “Wine Presses of Western Phrygia,”1-18. In Tsetskhladze, G.R. (ed.) Ancient
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Figures:
Fig.1 Wine press carved in bedrock, from the site of Gorno Pole, near the village Star
Karaorman
Fig.2 The winery of Bargala
Fig. 3 Ward 1
Fig.4 Ward 2, the wine presses
Fig. 5 Wine Press 1
Fig. 6. Wine Press 2
Fig. 7 Substructure of the wine presses
Fig. 8 Sedimentation vessel
Fig. 10 Wine amphorae found near the village of Zagorci
11