In 2022 the Balkan Heritage Foundation and National Institute Stobi, North Macedonia received a grant award of $300,000 from the J.M. Kaplan Fund, USA for the conservation of the Theodosian Palace. This project is the first step towards implementing the Master Conservation Plan of Stobi. It focuses on preserving the late Roman residential building excavated in the 1920s and more specifically on the conservation and re-conservation of the stone walls, floor mosaics and marble architectural elements.

The project was designed in close collaboration with an international team of experts led by John Stewart and Graham Abrey (UK). The Skillington Workshop (UK) is in charge of the conservation of the walls along with the team of NI Stobi and BHF-affiliated trainees. The NI Stobi mosaic conservators carried out the conservation of the mosaic floors under the guidance of Alessandro Lugari (IT).

The conservation methodology of the Skillington company is focused on preserving the character of structures ‘as excavated’, respecting the existing masonry patterns by using mortars closely related to the Roman mortar made from natural lime and creating a legacy of sustainable conservation.

The project started in the second half of 2022 and accomplished the following until the end of 2024 : 

• The graphic documentation of the building was updated; 3D models of the walls were created.
• The original construction and finishing mortars in the Theodosian Palace were analyzed in 2022-2023. This helped experts to understand the range of historically significant mortars, their physical and chemical properties and their durability.
• Several stone walls in different rooms of the building were conserved.
• During the cleaning process of the building, a new mosaic was accidentally discovered. It belongs to an earlier structure and has an emblem with Dionysos. It dates back to the late 3rd or early 4th century and is the earliest mosaic in Stobi so far.
• The mosaic in the central courtyard was conserved.