Noreia sanctuary in Hohenstein
The Noreia sanctuary in Hohenstein is a Roman sanctuary built in the 2nd century AD on the castle hill of Hohenstein in the Central Carinthian community of Liebenfels in the area of the then Roman province of Noricum , which was consecrated to the local Celtic goddess Noreia . The sanctuary could be reached by a vicinal road from the vicus in St. Michael am Zollfeld .
sanctuary
The foundations of the sanctuary could be excavated. The temple has a side length of 12.5 × 7.3 meters, the outer walls have a wall thickness of 1.4 meters. Inside, a transverse wall divides the temple into two unequal halves: the square cella to the north and the pronaos open to the south to the south . There is a plinth on the north wall of the cella, which is interpreted as the basis for the cult statue.
The facade of the sanctuary will be reconstructed as a four-column prostyle temple. In front of the facade is the substructure for a four-step staircase that led to the level of the temple podium. The height of the temple is reconstructed to be around 6.70 m, with the podium at least 1.80 m added.
The actual temple is surrounded on all sides with the exception of the south side by a portico that was around 3 meters wide and is located 4.5 to 5.5 meters from the temple. The outer walls went up, the inner ones carried pillars or pillars to support the roof. Portico and temple were covered with tiles.
The structure corresponds to the Italian building concept.
Finds
Several consecration altars were recovered on the site, which are now in the State Museum for Carinthia in Klagenfurt.
- An altar erected by Chrysanthus, a slave and administrator of Cypaerus, himself a slave to Emperor Claudius (41 to 54 AD), is the oldest datable find from Hohenstein and also the oldest written mention of the Noreia.
- Weihaltar for a silver bowl weighing 736 grams and a gold medallion from Noreia weighing 54.6 grams. It was built by Quintus Fabius Modestus from Rome, Decurio the 1st Thracian Ala Augusta.
- An altar was erected for the Isis-Noreia by Q. Septueius Valens, administrator of the iron mines, as a redemption of his vows gladly and to the merit of the goddess; this as thanks for the health of Q. Septueius Clemens, the tenant of half of the Norican iron tax or the iron mines, and of Ti. Claudius Heracla and Cn. Octavius Secundus, who were both administrators of the iron mines. This dedication indicates that Noreia was also venerated as the “patron goddess and donor of the mountain blessings and the Norican wealth of metals”.
- A dedicatory inscription found in the nearby Pulst has long been regarded as evidence of a restoration of the temple and portico in the second century. The client was a subordinate of the Noric governor Claudius Paternus Clementianus . Due to new finds that date the foundation of the sanctuary to the 2nd century, the inscription is being reconstructed as a building inscription.
- A marble bust of this Claudius Paternus Clementianus was found on the temple grounds in 1850. The life-size bust from the Hadrianic period made of imported marble is 54 cm high and 50 cm wide. It shows a frontal view. A cloak is placed around the left shoulder, the folds of which are mannerist and is held together by a disc fibula . The face shows an older, elegant Roman with a curly beard and hair. The face is marked by deep wrinkles, the brow arch and the protruding cheekbones. Gernot Piccottini interprets the bust as that of the Norican governor Cl. Paternus Clementianus.
- Another inscription is noteworthy in that a shaft continues under the writing field, and a round opening is drilled at the bottom of the writing field. The inscription is badly weathered, so that you can only read: The sublime Noreia ... has redeemed the vow of merit (the deity). The borehole is interpreted in such a way that the inscription was on the edge of a well or basin, and the pipe for the water inlet led through the hole. Wells can be found at many local shrines in Noricum.
More buildings
Seven meters south of the temple was a rectangular walled area of unclear function. The width of 27.5 meters is slightly larger than the extent of the temple area, the length cannot be reconstructed. Exactly in the longitudinal axis of the temple on the inside of the north wall is a rectangular wall plinth with an indefinite function.
On the east side of the enclosure was a five meter wide and at least 16.5 meter long hall. It was tiled and accessible from the north. Inside there were remains of wall paintings.
60 meters northeast of the temple area, the remains of a Roman manor were excavated, which took up an area of 4066 m². The area was surrounded by a 70 centimeter thick, previously rising wall, the entrance was in the southwest area. On the south wall there were foundations of a 16 × 13.8 meter house, which was probably made of wood due to the narrow foundations. In the south-east corner of the courtyard, the foundations of a barrack-shaped, wooden farm building were excavated, which has an approximately square footprint of nine square meters.
A second manor was excavated 300 meters east of the temple. Within an enclosing wall there were several wooden buildings on stone foundations that were made of dry stone and were therefore badly damaged, so that no room reconstruction is possible. To the north of this estate, a late antique burial ground was excavated with seven stone box graves with scanty additions. They are an indication that the facilities around the temple precinct were inhabited until the fifth century.
Research history
In the Hohenstein area, rubble and pottery shards were found again and again, in 1850 even a marble portrait bust. The consecration altars were found in 1848/49. The first targeted investigations were carried out in 1895, followed by extensive excavations in 1932, during which the circumference of the foundation walls was excavated. In 2004, the foundations of the temple could be dated to the 2nd century, to the time of Hadrian . The temple construction is therefore younger than previously assumed.
literature
- Gernot Piccottini : The Romans in Carinthia . Carinthia, Klagenfurt 1989, ISBN 3-85378-333-3 , pp. 68-73.
- Christof Flügel , Heimo Dolenz , Martin Luik : Subsequent excavations in the temple district of Isis Noreia near Hohenstein in the Glantal . In: Carinthia I, 195, 2005, pp. 55-71.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Christof Flügel , Heimo Dolenz , Martin Luik : Subsequent excavations in the temple district of Isis Noreia near Hohenstein in the Glantal . In: Carinthia I, 195, 2005, pp. 55-71.
- ↑ CIL 3, 4808 , Photo ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ CIL 3, 4806 , Photos ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Translation after G. Piccottini, 1989, p. 70. CIL 3, 4809 , Photos ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ G. Piccottini: The Roman stone collection of the State Museum for Carinthia . Verlag des Geschichtsverein für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 1996, ISBN 3-85454-085-X , p. 46.
- ↑ CIL 3, 14362 , Photos ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ G. Piccottini, 1989, p. 214. Photos ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ^ Translation after G. Piccottini, 1989, p. 70.
Coordinates: 46 ° 44 ′ 47 " N , 14 ° 17 ′ 49" E