Excavations in a historic square in Cologne, Germany, threw up a surprise when workers accidentally stumbled upon Roman-era finds. It includes the remains of an ancient Roman staircase which dates back to the late 1st century, making it around 2,000 years old. The finds were buried underneath the LVR Jewish Museum in the Archaeological Quarter of the city, and the preserved stretch of stairs shows how movement through a Roman palace adapted to the terrain, being so near the Rhine river. (Picture: City of Cologne/Roman-Germanic M)
The excavation work focused on an underground visitor passage beneath Rathausplatz, in the heart of Cologne’s city centre. The staircase discovered once led from a large palace called the praetorium, which was typically used as a residence for Roman commanding officers or governors. (Picture: City of Cologne/Roman-Germanic M)
The staircase led from the Praetorium down to the Rhine river, though nobody knows exactly where the staircase ended or began. Archaeologists say that usually staircases like this are not so well-preserved but later Roman building work covered part of the stairs, which actually helped to protect them for centuries. (Picture: City of Cologne/Roman-Germanic M)
The site also revealed the foundations to what would have been a 4th century Roman basilica, or church, and a small private household altar from the 2nd century, BBC reports. This kind of altar is called a lararium, which would be built into a wall. Small figurines would then be placed inside as well as food offerings for their household gods. (Picture: City of Cologne/Roman-Germanic M)
The lararium found in Cologne revealed traces of painted plaster and nail holes above and beside the opening ,which would be where garlands of ribbons were once hung during rituals. The city says these discoveries are similar to those found from Pompeii – one of the more famous Roman sites in the world. (Picture: City of Cologne/Roman-Germanic M)
This is actually the first lararium discovered north of the Alps, and is similar in style to those from key Vesuvian cities, like Pompeii. Experts suggest that this altar being inside a Praetorium suggests the prominence of cult worship within official Roman dwellings, while analysis of the masonry shows a different method, not standard Roman concrete, was used in building. (Picture: City of Cologne/Roman-Germanic M)
These discoveries are useful in expanding our knowledge of daily life in Roman Cologne, with these architectural elements rarely preserved in such an urban context. The finds will form part of a future exhibition, which will offer visitors a chance to see these structures that lay deep beneath the modern city for centuries. (Picture: City of Cologne/Roman-Germanic M)
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