Rural Villa
Location
Garden
Rural Villa
Keywords
Garden Description
This palatial villa, which has been interpreted as an imperial summer palace, lay within the confines of an imperial domain about 12 km. northwest of Colonia Augusta Treverorum. It was built during the reign of the emperor Valentinian I (364-375) or Gratian (367-383) who resided in the capital. Very little remains of the actual villa, although foundation walls of other buildings and a possible portico have been found.
The grounds of the villa were almost certainly landscaped in some form, as is suggested by a large decorative pool that may have been a decorative focus in a garden. It measured 18 x 60 meters and had three symmetrically arranged apses on the long sides. (Fig. 1) The walls of the pool were constructed of cut stone blocks and the bottom was paved with stone slabs. On top of the edges of the pool was an open-worked stone balustrade pierced at regular intervals by 112 limestone herms. The herms represent gods, Greeks, Romans, philosophers, generals and idealized figures such as putti, as well as Phrygians, Nubians and Germans. These were thrown into the pool in the 5th century, landing perhaps on layers of sediment at the bottom. As a result, the herms, of which 71 were retrieved in excavations, are in excellent condition. At the northern end of the pool was a rectangular building through which ran a drain from the pool. (Fig. 2, View of Model)
Maps
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Plans
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Images
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Dates
Unspecified
Bibliography
- H. Wrede, Die spätantike Hermengalerie von Welschbillig. Römisch-Germanische Forschungen 32, Berlin, 1972 (worldcat)
- H. Cüppers, ed., Die Römer in Rheinland-Pfalz, Stuttgart, 1990, pp. 665-667, figs. 607-609. (worldcat)
- P. Van Ossel, Établissements ruraux de l'Antiquité tardive dans le nord de la Gaule, Paris, 1992, pp. 277-278, fig. 90. (worldcat)