Tawern Roman temple district

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Access to the temple precinct
The front of the Temple of Mercury
The Temple of Mercury from behind, the fountain on the right
Temple complex from the left
Mercurius plastic

The Roman temple district Tawern is a collection of ancient temple buildings located on the Metzenberg near the present-day town of Tawern in the Rhineland-Palatinate district of Trier-Saarburg in Germany .

history

The sanctuary, which is surrounded by an irregular, quadrangular district wall (46 × 36 m), originally presumably comprised five temples, the fronts of which were aligned with the valley. Over time, four outbuildings and two gate systems were built. One of the temples was replaced by a temple built uphill directly behind it, while three other temples had to give way to a larger temple with a three-sided gallery.

In this larger temple there was a larger than life sculpture of the god Mercurius . Travelers on the important Roman road " Via Agrippa " from Metz to Trier are said to have sacrificed to the god of trade, commerce and traffic in the temple district.

Presumably, Christians destroyed the temple complex at the latest when the practice of pagan cults was banned in 392.

reconstruction

There was a well over 15 meters deep on the site. When the complex was excavated in 1986/87 under the direction of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier and partially reconstructed, architectural elements, coins, jugs and plastic representations were found in the well shaft, which enabled an excellent reconstruction of the history of the temple area based on the layering in the well. With the help of a coin it was established that the fountain still existed at the end of the fourth century.

Directions

The site can be accessed around the clock all year round. The temple district can be reached from Tawern by following the signs to a parking lot with around ten vehicles. From there, a forest management path continues, which after about 800 meters leads past the temple district.

literature

  • Sabine Faust: "Metzenberg": Roman temple district . In: Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier (ed.): Guide to archaeological monuments of the Trier region (=  series of publications by the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier ). No. 35. Trier 2008, ISBN 978-3-923319-73-2 , p. 178 f .
  • Sabine Faust: Pagan temple districts and cult buildings. In: Alexander Demandt , Josef Engemann (ed.): Konstantin der Große. Emperor Caesar Flavius ​​Constantinus . Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2007, ISBN 978-3-8053-3688-8 , p. 332.
  • Heinz Cüppers : Tawern TR. Temple precinct in Tabernae. In: H. Cüppers (Ed.): The Romans in Rhineland-Palatinate. Licensed edition, Nikol, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-933203-60-0 , pp. 569-571.
  • Marcello Ghetta: Late Antique Paganism. Trier and the Treverland. Trier 2008, pp. 334-336.
  • Hans-Peter Kuhnen (Ed.): Religio Romana. Paths to the gods in ancient Trier. Trier 1996, pp. 82-85.

Web links

Coordinates: 49 ° 39 ′ 51.3 "  N , 6 ° 30 ′ 34.4"  E