The Roman villa in Blankenheim
The villa in Blankenheim is one of the most important archaeological monuments of the Rhineland from Roman times. It was once a large estate (villa rustica) with a luxuriously furnished main building as well as stables, barns, coach houses and servants' quarters, all grouped around a spacious farmyard.
The first archaeological investigations took place as early as 1894. It was decided to preserve the exceptionally well-preserved walls of the main building and make them accessible to the public. However, the ancient masonry weathered and decayed very quickly. The excavations in 1914 focused on the older construction phases. Some of the building walls uncovered at the end of the 19th century are still visible in the ground today. The farmyard and outbuildings were archaeologically investigated in several excavation campaigns until 1931.
With an area of around 250 x 120 metres, the estate covered an impressive three hectares. It was built at the end of the 1st century AD and was continuously farmed until the middle of the 4th century. The main building, the owner's or tenant's residence, which was dominated on the valley side by a wide colonnade (porticus), made a monumental impression even from a distance. The six outbuildings at the edge of the farmyard in front of it were arranged axially symmetrically. There is good reason to believe that the villa owner's obvious prosperity was also based on income from secondary sources, such as the operation of quarries and the mining of ore deposits in the immediate vicinity.
The Roman villa in Blankenheim is the only known example of a representative axial villa in the Rhineland.
Modern presentation
As a result of an architectural competition organised by the municipality of Blankenheim, the almost 60-metre-long colonnade of the main building was reconstructed using modern materials. The replica is visible from afar with its striking rust-coloured steel slats. The design was created by the renowned architectural firm Schneider und Schumacher from Frankfurt am Main. The floor plan of the main building is represented by steel bands in the terrain, while walls and floors are distinguished from each other by different types of gravel. Two "archaeological windows" allow a view of the original Roman structure. The entire complex was designed by landscape architects GTL Gnüchtel Triebswetter from Kassel in such a way that visitors can learn about the findings from information boards and enjoy the park. The floor plans of the outbuildings were also visualised using modern steel elements.
