The Foundation “Heritage Watchdogs – Bassania” is pleased to announce that it has finally succeeded in identifying the exact location of Baton’s Villa Rustica in Ravenna, Italy, where the leader of the great Baton revolt (6–9 CE), Baton of the Dezidii, spent the final years of his life and passed away.
This search had been ongoing for years without results, until archaeologist Dr. Radovan Kovačević from Inđija, Serbia, provided the precise GPS coordinates of this historic site. Dr. Edin Garaplija from Sarajevo also made a significant contribution by financially supporting the expedition.
Ravenna, a modern city on the Adriatic coast with 150,000 inhabitants, holds immense cultural and historical value. It boasts eight monuments listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. For comparison, Bologna has only one such monument, while Bosnia and Herzegovina has three.
The monuments in Ravenna date to the Early Christian period (5th–6th century) and represent an exceptional blend of Gothic, Byzantine, and Roman influences, making the city the European capital of mosaics.
It is also noteworthy that in 402 CE, the Western Roman Emperor Honorius moved the imperial capital from Milan to Ravenna. After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE, Ostrogothic King Theodoric established the Ostrogothic Kingdom with its seat in the city, which lasted until 540 CE, when Byzantine Emperor Justinian conquered Ravenna.
The Foundation “Heritage Watchdogs – Bassania” announces that it will share further details about the location of Baton of the Dezidii’s grave in an upcoming release. Once again, we extend our gratitude to Dr. Radovan Kovačević and Dr. Edin Garaplija, without whose support this project would not have been possible.