Risan belongs to the oldest Illyric settlements on the Montenegrin coast. Legend has it that queen, fleeing from the Roman invasion, was hiding here in 228 BC, and then, unable to resist them, threw herself into the sea.
The original Risan was located on the northern side of the Carina field under the Gradina, while the Roman town was expanding towards the sea on the right bank of the river Špilja. It is assumed that a larger part of the town disappeared sinking into the sea in the disastrous earthquake at the end of the 7th or beginning of the 8th century.
Today archeological findings speak about the pompous palaces, walls and squares of this town.
Of special interest are the excavated remnants of a villa near the road Risan-Nikšić, from the 2nd century AD. Four of its five rooms are decorated with mosaics. On one of them there is the figure of Hypnos, God of sleep, procumbent; the only preserved depiction of this God in a mosaic. The other mosaics are of geometric character, combined with herbal and floral motives.
text: http://montenegro.travel
