Early Christian Centre

The Early Christian Centre is part of the Archaeological Park Emona, which includes ten locations throughout Ljubljana’s city centre.

A later centre of Christian life in Emona developed along the city’s western wall, parts of which are still preserved on Erjavčeva Street, next to Cankarjev dom. Like most Emonan houses, the original building was privately owned, but it was later transformed into an early Christian complex. The remains of its foundations and earliest floors date back to the founding of the city in the early 1st century AD. The first major renovation took place in the early 4th century, when the building was converted into a private bathhouse, as evidenced by restored floor sections and added bathing pools.

The conversion and change of purpose from a private residence to a religious centre occurred in the second half of the 4th and early 5th century. The building’s final transformation into a complex serving Emona’s Christian community, also documented in written sources, took place in the early 5th century. A rectangular baptistery with a baptismal pool was built beside the central courtyard, and to the south, a large portico (covered walkway) featuring a preserved multicoloured mosaic that reveals the name of the builder—Archdeacon Antiochus.