Peristylhaus

The Peristyle House in Cologne is the ruin of a grand Roman residence that was discovered in 1941 during construction work on an air-raid shelter near the cathedral. This archaeological site forms the heart of the Roman-Germanic Museum, which was built on the spot to showcase the city's returned ancient treasures. The building occupied an entire city block and was designed in a Mediterranean style that was unusual for the Germanic provinces. At its center lay a garden with a fountain, surrounded by columns, from which more than twenty rooms could be reached. The building's history goes back to the time of Emperor Claudius, and the house was remodeled several times before it burned down in an attack by the Franks in A.D. 355.

The most famous exhibit is the so-called Dionysus Mosaic, which adorned the floor of the dining room. This artwork, about 70 square meters (750 square feet) in size, consists of roughly one and a half million tesserae of natural stone, glass, and clay. In a central medallion, it shows the tipsy god Dionysus leaning on a satyr, surrounded by further scenes of the seasons, birds, and fruit. Today the mosaic rests on a special support structure, and it was already coated with a protective layer in the 1950s to preserve its colors. It even served as a dining room for state guests during the 1999 G8 economic summit.

The mosaic's history is also marked by a dramatic incident: during Storm Kyrill in 2007, a heavy wooden structure was hurled through the museum's glass facade into the exhibition space and badly damaged the artwork. International restorers were nevertheless able to repair the damage, and the central image fortunately remained intact. The elaborate restoration was completed in 2008 and celebrated with a festival, so today you can once again admire the mosaic in its full splendor.