Cologne
Cologne, Latin Colonia, has some Roman ruins, but the Roman museum, in the square beside the Cathedral, was for me the greatest attraction. There's a bit about the museum (opening in a new window) here.
| A huge monument stretching from ground floor to museum top is the most spectacular exhibit. I seem to remember a Roman organ. They sell some nice replicas. Here are three goddesses. |
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On the back you can see the maker's details |
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Xanten
Xanten is a Roman town, reconstructed in part on its original site. See my 15 minute video tour of the site here.
The chief attractions are:
- Town walls and gate
- Inn and bathhouse
- Amphitheatre and crane
- Games building
There used to be many virtual reality pictures of Xanten on the internet, but all have disappeared. Pity. The pics on this page are my own.
| The walls of Xanten |
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Looking down from the walls |
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The inn |
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| Another view of the inn |
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The amphitheatre and crane |
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The main gate |
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Trier
Trier was the Emperor's headquarters at one stage. Apart from impressive ruins, it has a Roman bridge, and a basilica still in use as a church, where I enjoyed an organ recital. The most impressive building of all is the Porta Nigra, a city gate so huge that at one time it housed a church in its middle storey. The museum has some famous reliefs, like the boy arriving late to class, and also the big stone cargo boat pictured here.
Take a virtual tour
View a slide show of my photographs here.
| This is the Porta Nigra, not my own photo |
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The view from the former church in the Porta Nigra. |
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The famous boat carving, general view. |
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| A closer view of the cargo of Moselle wine |
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A less usual view, from the bows |
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And a glimpse from behind. |
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Mehring
I fell in love with the Moselle, and found a village by the river to stay in for a few days, while I walked the vine-covered hills and admired the views. By sheer chance I found that Mehring, the village I chose, has a partially reconstructed Roman villa.
Ausonius was also taken with the Moselle, and wrote a poem about it, which I have now translated. I could not find an English translation on the web, so my version is here.
| The front of the villa |
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And this is round the back, only partially rebuilt |
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A sideways view of the main facade |
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| Another view of the front, with its wonderful view. |
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A really solid-looking bulding |
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The lavatories are partly reconstructed |
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| The corridor gave good cover during a shower while I was visiting |
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Finally, the local restaurant shows the villa as it may have been |
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Saalburg
The frontier of the Roman Empire in Germany, the Limes, is rather like Hadrian's Wall, or rather the Antonine Wall, not being built of stone. I visited it at the reconstructed fort, the Saalburg, not too far from Frankfurt. The Kaiser built it about 1900 for his wife's birthday present, I believe. Not the sort of present that royalty could pass on to a servant to dispose of.
| A high bank surrounds the Saalburg, surmounted by a stone wall. |
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This small patch of the wall has been finished in gleaming white, as perhaps the whole wall once was. |
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| There are watch-towers at intervals round the fort. |
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Another, larger patch of whitened wall. |
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| At some places the original ditch is clearly visible, like here by the main gate |
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The main gate, even from the inside, is really imposing |
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| There is a lesser gate at another point in the fort walls |
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Inside, you see the soldiers' quarters, the barrack blocks |
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| They faced each other across a narrow roadway |
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They now house lavatories for ladies ... |
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| ... and gentlemen, suitably labelled in Latin |
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Other buildings - storehouses etc - are rebuilt on their original sites |
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| The granary houses a superb museum |
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A Mithraeum is tucked away outside the fort |
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| The centre of the fort is the Principia |
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I felt a strange sensation, being actually inside a 'Roman' building |
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| You look out onto a parade ground and a well. You are made aware of the importance of wells |
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You can imagine a parade here in front of the centurion |
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| This is how the Principia looks from the outside |
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In the very safest place in the Principia is the treasury |
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| Near the fort is the 'limes' itself, a short stretch of which has been reconstructed |
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One can follow traces of the limes through the woods, but not much is left |
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Frankfurt
By contrast, Frankfurt is disappointing for anyone seeking the Romans. There is a Roman museum, but I cannot recommend that you visit it.
| This statue of Minerva was about the best thing there. Here she is from every angle. |
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