Consisting of several partially-recreated structures of a Gallo-Roman settlement, the Schwarzenacker Roman Museum is an open-air archaeological museum in the district of Schwarzenacker. It was established by archaeologist Alfonso Kolling who led the excavations at the site and exhibits the remains of a Roman vicus (country town) where around 2,000 people lived from the 1st century AD until it was destroyed by Alemanni in 275 AD.
The settlement benefitted from the Roman military and trade routes leading from what is now Trier to Strasbourg, as well as from modern-day Metz to Worms. It flourished into a residential, commercial and administrative hub, with right-angle intersecting Roman streets that were flanked by large drainage channels. Freshwater was pumped from deep wells and supplied through clay and wood pipelines while the half-timbered houses were decorated with frescoes and ceiling paintings. One of the houses is believed to have been the seat of a cult, with bronze statues discovered in the cellar depicting a rooster, an Apollo and Mercu-ry with a wild boar.
Wander amidst the partially excavated buildings, roads and culverts, then step inside the adjoining 18th-century villa where significant findings from the settle-ment and surrounding area are exhibited. The villa was designed by Jonas Erikson Sundahl and in addition to artifacts detailing everyday life in the settlement, it also features paintings by Johann Christian von Mannlich and other influential painters of the period.
Be sure to explore the surrounding gardens that were designed in a baroque style and admire the life-size replicas of Roman equestrian statues that were discov-ered in the late-19th century in a Roman quarry nearby Breitfurt.