Ruins of a grand Roman country house (villa rustica) were discovered by a local school teacher at the end of the 19th century outside the village of Borg in the municipality of Perl (Germany), near where the Saar River runs into the Moselle. The Villa consisted of three wings covering an area of more than 7.5 hectares. The complex was excavated in the late 1980s.
A plan to reconstruct an authentic representation of the buildings of the Villa Rustica as they originally appeared in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD began in 1994. The project was completed in 2008. In addition to the local findings and excavation work, the reconstruction was based on similar sites of the Saar region (such as the Villa at Echternach in Luxembourg). Both antique literature (Vitruvius) and modern literature (e.g. for the reconstruction of the wall paintings) were considered. The reconstructed buildings now stand on the Roman foundation walls, revealing their probable appearance in the 2nd to 3rd centuries. The reconstruction offers a detailed insight into what life was like in the countryside at that time.
The Roman Villa at Borg receives 50,000 visitors annually, who come to explore the buildings, including the main manor hall, bedrooms, three baths, a dressing room and relaxation solarium, a kitchen, and latrines, along with the gate and gardens.
Visitors enter the site of the Roman Villa Borg through the gatehouse. It stands on the original foundations and probably looks much as it did during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
The manor hall (atrium), the Villa’s main building, was and still is the structure on which the entire villa complex is focused. Like the Roman Villa at Nennig, the reception hall featured a large mosaic floor, this time in black and white. The plan design of the main wing led to the assumption that the building was two-storey. The manor hall and several adjacent rooms are today used as a museum where the excavation finds are displayed.
From February to July 2013, an exhibition on Roman glass (CIRCUS BEAKERS & RIBBED BOWLS ROMAN GLASSMAKERS Mark Taylor & David Hill – work show 1989-2012) was held in the reception hall. Several dozen glass vessels found at the Villa Borg site were displayed alongside hundreds of glass reconstructions made by Mark Taylor & David Hill.
© Carole Raddato
Some rooms upstairs feature furniture reproductions, including stools, tables, and cupboards.
The complex also includes a fully functioning Roman bath. The baths have been rebuilt in their original form, indicating the importance of bathing culture in the Roman Empire. From the entrance area, you reach the cold bath (frigidarium), featuring a large pool.
Next to the reconstructed frigidarium is the caldarium, a vaulted room containing a hot bath.
Next to the caldarium and in line with ancient bathing customs is the reconstructed laconicum, the dry sweating room of the Roman thermae. The resting room was raised to a higher temperature and had no bath.
A hypocaust heated the laconicum. The suspended floor, built of bridging tiles, was supported by pilae consisting mainly of square tiles.
The next room is the medium warm room of the baths. It contains a statue of Clio, the Muse of History and a reconstructed lararium, a shrine to the guardian spirits of the Roman household (Lar Familiaris). Family members performed daily rituals at this shrine to guarantee the protection of these domestic spirits, the most significant of which were the lares.
A lararium often resembled a small, temple-like structure, featuring a small statue, a niche in the wall, or a small freestanding shrine. The painting in the reconstructed lararium is based on a fresco from a lararium in the House of the Centenary at Pompeii. The figure of Bacchus, god of wine and fertility, stands at the foot of Mount Vesuvius.
A tavern in one of the wings of the Villa Borg serves food and drinks based on Roman recipes. The Villa Borg produces its own Roman bread, which you can buy at the tavern. The bread is baked inside the reconstructed Roman kitchen (culina). The Roman cuisine is immediately adjacent to the bathhouse wing.
© Carole Raddato
The gardens, which have been designed as authentically as possible based on pollen analysis and relevant literature, comprise a herb garden featuring spices and medicinal plants, a flower garden, and a kitchen garden with fruits and vegetables. The rose garden and the inner court garden are also based on Roman models, providing an insight into Roman garden architecture with their fountains and footpaths.
Every year during the first weekend of August, the “Roman Days” (Römertage) are held at the Villa. Roman legionnaires, traders, and craftsmen set up their camp on the estate of the Villa Borg, presenting the ancient way of life. The Villa also offers a year-round variety of events.
Only the pars dominica (or urbana) has been excavated, which was the residential area exclusive to the master (dominus) and his family. Excavation work is currently being carried out in the area of the pars rustica, the area reserved for servants and workers of the farm.
The ancient Roman heritage of Saarland and the Mosel Valley has much to offer tourists and scholars. More than 120 antique sights along the Moselle and Saar rivers, as well as in Saarland and Luxembourg, are a testament to the Gallo-Roman era north of the Alps (further information here).
Visiting the Roman Villa Borg: The Villa is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 am to 6 pm, from April to October, and from 11 am to 4 pm, from February to March and November. The site is closed on Mondays and during the months of December and January.
Website: http://www.villa-borg.de
© Carole Raddato
Near the Roman Villa Borg, you can visit the gladiator mosaic in Nennig, the largest and most exquisite mosaic north of the Alps. Protected by a dedicated building constructed approximately 150 years ago and spanning an area of roughly 160 m², the mosaic vividly portrays musicians, hunting scenes, and gladiatorial contests. The tumulus nearby is also well worth a visit.
Further photos can be viewed from my image collection on Flickr.
