Pesch temple district
The Pesch temple district , also popularly known as the Heidentempel , is a Gallo-Roman temple complex consisting of several buildings , which was built on the "Addig" hill between the places Bad Münstereifel - Nöthen and Nettersheim- Pesch in the Eifel during the 1st to 4th AD Century. The remains of the Matron's Shrine , which are now partially reconstructed in their foundation walls , were excavated by Hans Lehner between 1913 and 1918 , a follow-up examination took place in 1962 and a large number of dedicatory inscriptions were made in honor of the Matronae Vacallinehae .
location
The Gallo-Roman temple district was built on a hill above the confluence of the Wespelbach and Hornbach rivers. It is one of the best preserved Roman cult facilities in North Rhine-Westphalia . Here important religious and socio-historical knowledge can be gained for the province of Lower Germany . The largest extension of the complex is an easted rectangle of 100 by 34 meters from the 4th century AD. The architectural beginnings can be dated to the 1st century AD, the flowering was reached in the 4th century, the destruction was noted for the beginning of the 5th century.
The cult
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Presumably the place of worship was originally a tree cult place, which was dedicated to the Matronae Vacallinehae or Vocallinehae during its expansion phase . These matrons were possibly the patron saints of a local group or clan called Vacalli . These Celtic-Germanic mother goddesses appear mainly in Upper Italy , Gaul , Lower Germany and Britain and mostly arose from tree cults. The matron cult is particularly widespread in the Roman Rhineland . The naming usually results from place, river or family names. The cult image of the Aufan matrons placed in front of the complex today is a cast of a consecration stone from the neighboring cult site in Nettersheim from the early 3rd century AD (see Görresburg temple district ). Other places of worship of the Vaccaline matrons in the area can be found in Iversheim , Antweiler , Lessenich , Satzvey and Bonn - Endenich . The male counterpart to the three female matronae is often Mercury , whose cult was often cultivated in the same place by male associations, the so-called curiae , as the findings here suggest. Almost three hundred fragments of inscriptions found reflect religious life and cult activities over four centuries. Most of them were consecrations and votive offerings by locals to matrons, but also traces of important deities such as fragments of a Jupiter and Cybele cult image.
Today's facility
The remains that are preserved today go back to the last of the three construction periods. Neither the older nor the originally wooden components are shown in the reconstruction . In the complex there is an archaeological - historic preservation reconstruction of the cult place, securing the archaeological findings and presentation should combine the architectural situation. For this purpose, one to two meter high masonry with findings a few centimeters high are shown to the visitor. Various Weihestein casts have been added to the buildings to visualize the cult practice.
Construction phases
The buildings of the 1st and 2nd periods were demolished with the 3rd period. Apart from the unchanged fountain, nothing is visible from the oldest construction phases. Due to the poor evidence, it can only be speculated about the use of the oldest building structure and conclusions can be drawn from the remains of the last construction period.
Period I.
Mid to 2nd half of the 1st century AD
There was a central, older cult square, which was given a rectangular enclosure. To the north of this were two square temple buildings, and to the south was a storage building. The entire district was surrounded by a fence. To the east of the complex, beyond what was presumed to be a square, there was an outside well, which possibly served as a water source and at the same time for ritual purification.
Period II
2nd half of the 2nd century AD
The northernmost of the two older temples was replaced by a larger temple structure and the entire complex was probably enclosed with an enclosure wall instead of the fence.
Period III
2nd quarter of the 4th century AD
The last period is characterized by a completely new construction of the plant. All older buildings were demolished and the entire cult area was leveled. The new building, however, is completely based on the shape and orientation of the old complex, it was not only built larger, but also more planned. It is the temple complex that has been preserved and partially preserved today and extends from 100 to 34 meters.
Based on the previous buildings, three cult buildings were erected with the same alignment and the same distances of around 8.80 m (= 30 Roman feet) in the west of the enlarged cult area. The square in front of the whole width was available for processions and cult festivals.
Kulthof
Instead of the original central courtyard, a new one was laid out, which was surrounded by a boundary wall that contained many stone fragments from the older construction phases. A wide, representative entrance was on the east side and was flanked in the corners by two small rooms, which presumably received smaller and more valuable ordinations and votive offerings, while larger ones were built in the courtyard itself. To the side in the northeastern area of the courtyard was a hexagonal temple surrounded by columns with a diameter of 1.6 meters, which can be regarded as a prominent place of worship within the cult courtyard and possibly took up the stone cult image of a tree as the origin of the cult site.
temple
To the north of the courtyard, instead of an older temple, a Gallo-Roman temple was built, the cella of which was verifiably painted in color. Here, too, there is an eastern entrance, which was formerly flanked by half-columns. Many older sacred stone fragments were also found within the foundation embroidery. The passage, about 3 m wide, had a portico with a conceivable height of three meters. The cult image of the Vacallineh matrons was probably found here.
basilica
In the south of the courtyard, a square basilica was built on the site of an old granary , which was plastered on the outside and decorated with paintings on the inside. In the west it had an apse , which may have had a cellar. The building is a three-aisled basilica with three non-fluted columns and two half-columns at the ends of the outer walls. The column bases are connected by small walls and possibly carried barriers. The wide eastern entrance was flanked inside and outside by columns. The representative building presumably represents the meeting building of the local men's association with the Mercurius cult.
Secular buildings
A building with a wide entrance, possibly constructed using timber framing, was located south of the basilica. It is possible that supplies and equipment were kept here. The foundations were not preserved and are therefore no longer recognizable today. Another building was in the southeast corner of the cult complex. The remains of this alleged accommodation of the cult personnel have not been preserved either. The east side of the complex is highlighted as the entrance and the show side by a delimiting portico of 120 meters in length. It was designed as a wooden structure and included the older fountain. It probably served as a foyer and pilgrims' accommodation as well as a trading place for devotional objects . Today the hall is traceable in the area through a hedge planting.
literature
- Hans Lehner : The ancient stone monuments of the Provincial Museum in Bonn. Friedrich Cohen, Bonn 1918.
- Hans Lehner: The temple district of the Matronae Vacalinehae near Pesch. In: Bonner Jahrbücher . Issue 125, 1919, p. 74 ff.
- Rudolf Pörtner : With the elevator to Roman times . Cities and sites of early German history. Econ Verlag, Düsseldorf / Vienna 1959, ISBN 3-430-17529-1 , p. 125 f .
- Walter Sage : Subsequent excavations in the "basilica" of the pagan temple near Pesch. In: Bonner Jahrbücher . Issue 164, 1964, p. 288 ff.
- Géza Alföldy : The inscriptions from the temple district near Pesch. Kr. Schleiden. In: Epigraphic Studies. Volume 5, Rheinland-Verlag, Pulheim 1968, pp. 33-89.
- Heinz Günter Horn : The matron shrine near Pesch. In: Northeastern Eifel foreland - Euskirchen, Zülpich, Bad Münstereifel, Blankenheim. Part II: Excursions (= Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz et al. [Hrsg.]: Guide to prehistoric and early historical monuments. Volume 26). Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz am Rhein 1974, pp. 76-86.
- Werner Hilgers : Pesch. Roman temple precinct. In: Walter Sölter (Ed.): The Roman Germania from the air. Gustav Lübbe Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 1983, ISBN 3-7857-0298-1 , pp. 236-237.
- Heinz Günter Horn: Bad Münstereifel-Nöthen: Roman temple district. In: Heinz Günter Horn (Ed.): The Romans in North Rhine-Westphalia. Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-8062-0312-1 , pp. 342-345.
- Frank Biller: Cultic centers and matron worship in the southern Germania inferior. Osnabrück Research on Antiquity and Antke Reception Vol. 13. Verlag Marie Leidorf, Rahden / Westfalen 2010, ISBN 978-3-89646-734-8 , pp. 198–240.
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 50 ° 32 '2.4 " N , 6 ° 42' 10.6" E