Traces of Roman Cologne Uncovered

Archaeology Magazine ^ | February 12, 2026 | editors / unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

Finestre Sull'Arte reports that during new construction work for MiQua, the future LVR-Jewish Museum currently being built near the city's historic center, excavations revealed several important and well-preserved structures associated with the site's early Roman settlement. These include an exceptional second-century a.d. lararium, a type of domestic shrine dedicated to protective household deities known as Lares. This altar was located in the area of the former Praetorium, which served as the palace for the Roman governor, and is the first of its kind ever found north of the Alps. The archaeological team also uncovered the remains of a fourth-century a.d. basilica and a late first-century a.d. staircase that would have connected the very earliest sections of the Roman city with the banks of the Rhine River. To read more about Cologne's importance in the Roman empire, go to "Beauty Endures."

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TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: 4711; cologne; germany; godsgravesglyphs; koln; romanempire; romangermany; rome

[SunkenCiv]

Apse of Roman basilica, Cologne, Germany

© City of Cologne/Roman-Germanic Museum, Michael Wiehen

[SunkenCiv]

In before the perfume jokes.

The weekly digest list of topics follows.

[SunkenCiv]

The other GGG topics added since the previous digest ping, alpha:

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• Crucial Lessons From Ancient Rome: The Corruption of Family and Society During the late Roman Empire Left the Society Vulnerable. [02/07/2026]
• The Discovery of Seneca the Elder's Lost Roman History [3:08] [02/14/2026]
• The Fall of Trebizond (1461) - the end of the Roman empire [02/10/2026]
• The Forgotten Battle That Saved a Kingdom | Medieval Dead | S2 E3 | Full Episode [44:11] [02/09/2026]
• George Cayley: The Man Who Invented Flight [02/10/2026]
• Helen of Troy Is Obviously Not an African, but Will Woke Hollywood Make Her One? [02/10/2026]
• John Browning's M1911 Was Patented On Valentine's Day [02/14/2026]
• Linguistic evidence supports date for Homeric epics [02/10/2026]
• Pompeii's ruins challenge Rome's famous concrete recipe [02/13/2026]
• Prehistoric discovery in Oregon cave older than Egypt's Great Pyramid rewrites human history [02/12/2026]
• The Rise and Fall of Laudanum: The Drug That Built The Gilded Age (late 1870s - late 1890s) [02/13/2026]
• Roman military helped bring cats to Europe [02/13/2026]

[oldplayer]

I have spent significant in Koln. Such a very important site. I wish I had read Tacitus before my times there.

[Wayne07]

The name city’s name has an interesting Roman history. It was founded by Romans in 50AD and named Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, “The Claudian Colony and Altar of the Agrippinians”. It honored the Empress Agrippina the Younger, who was born there and was the wife of Emperor Claudius. Cologne/Koln is just a shortening of the original Roman name.

[montag813]

I visited 2 Roman baths in Köln in the late 1980s that no one even knew about until the Allied bombs exposed them in 1945.

[Larry Lucido]

I hear that Marshall Zhukov tried to get to Cologne. Why? He found the Vistula odor offensive!

Ok, I’ll see myself out.

[PAR35]

For those interested in Roman Germany, I recommend a trip downstream (north) from Koeln to Xanten and the archaeological park there.

[Does so]

“...unknown ntil the Allied bombs exposed them in 1945.”

In 1961, I visited the cathedral. Its spires are visible from far away. Noted back then, large missing chunks from WWII battle were obvious from street level.

[fidelis]

In before the perfume jokes. Indeed. From the title, I assumed that they had uncovered some Roman legionnaire's stash of Old Spice.

[algore]

That looks like one of the original Man caves, back in the day I bet it was filled with the Eau de Toilette

[deks]

I was expecting this...

[one guy in new jersey]

A little dab’ll do ya.

[dfwgator]

[Robert A Cook PE]

These latest rooms and findings were still isolated behind barriers when we were last in Cologne. The city is awe-inspiring nonetheless.

[Blurb2350]

"Smellin' of Troy"

[StAnDeliver]

Pagan polytheism is just weird. If you are Hipparchus, how do you build the Antikythera mechanism and not wonder to yourself that only God Almighty had the power to investiture your ability to make an astrolab computer from brass and glass? Of course he also invented trig, so screw him.

[DannyTN]

You might be wearing your cologne too strong, if it can still be detected 2000 years in the future.

[pierrem15]

Was at the bar at the Zion Kolsch brewery in the old town once. They ran out of beer, opened a trap door, winched the empty keg down (probably held like 50 gallons), hauled another one up and when the big, brass tap was driven in, it sprayed Kolsch all over, much to the cheers of the crowd.

They serve Kolsch in those tall glasses and the custom is, if you put the glass down empty, they fill it up again or bring you a new one. You have to put the coaster on top to signal you are done. And it's much stronger than it looks, some approaching 6-7% alcohol. It's actually an ale, and the native dialect sounds very close to Dutch.

[Paal Gulli]

When your citizens brush their teeth with urine, cologne is not optional.