Arlon Archaeological Museum, Arlon, Belgium

The Gallo-Roman Lapidary Gallery is the largest of its kind in Belgium, with the best-quality artefacts. It contains more than 425 sculptures from funerary monuments and civic buildings. The exhibits include around sixty large fragments sculpted on several sides, plus shards of pottery and other discoveries which paint a picture of daily life during the Gallo-Roman era. The museum’s fascinating Frankish gallery displays the contents of the tombs of Merovingian dignitaries (contemporaries of King Clovis) found in Arlon, including gold jewellery, Damascus steel swords, vases and coffins. Guidebook and explanatory panels in English. Guided tours in English available on request.

References:

Arlon Tourisme

Museums in Belgium

User Reviews

Thibaut vermersch (2 years ago)
Super intéressant

Wattiez Vincent (2 years ago)
Très belle collection de pierre funéraires et d'autres objets de la vie quotidienne des Celto-Romains (la terminologie de Gallo-Romains étant érronée) Mais beaucoup mieux avec un guide qui vous explique plein de choses super intéressantes.

Chantal Deroua (3 years ago)
Un.guide passionné, j ai zxoite attentivement tous ses commentaires

Ludmila Bergeon (3 years ago)
Quelque peu déçue par le musée, m'attendant à une plus grande ouverture d'esprit ! On y voit beaucoup de blocs de pierres, intéressant sans doute les archéologues et les amateurs, mais rendant trop facile la recherche archéologique ! C'est lorsque l'on se dirige vers les œuvres archéologiques d'Art, que tout prend forme, avec les différentes bagues proposées, les bijoux, les broches et autres coquetteries, soulignant une mentalité non sourde et non simplement vitale !

Eric Schraff (4 years ago)
Beau musée à voir avec les enfants beaucoup d'objets à voir et surtout ne pas oublier d aller voir après la tour romaine

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

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Historic Site of the week

Glimmingehus

Glimmingehus is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false doors and dead-end corridors, 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, moats, drawbridges and various other forms of death traps to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. The lower part of the castle's stone walls are 2.4 meters (94 inches) thick and the upper part 1.8 meters (71 inches).

Construction was started in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand and stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral. Construction was completed in 1506.

Ulfstand was a councillor, nobleman and admiral serving under John I of Denmark and many objects have been uncovered during archeological excavations that demonstrate the extravagant lifestyle of the knight's family at Glimmingehus up until Ulfstand's death in 1523. Some of the most expensive objects for sale in Europe during this period, such as Venetian glass, painted glass from the Rhine district and Spanish ceramics have been found here. Evidence of the family's wealth can also be seen inside the stone fortress, where everyday comforts for the knight's family included hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses. Although considered comfortable for its period, it has also been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of "Knighthood nostalgia" and not considered opulent or progressive enough even to the knight's contemporaries and especially not to later generations of the Scanian nobility. Glimmingehus is thought to have served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

An order from Charles XI to the administrators of the Swedish dominion of Scania in 1676 to demolish the castle, in order to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the Scanian War, could not be executed. A first attempt, in which 20 Scanian farmers were ordered to assist, proved unsuccessful. An additional force of 130 men were sent to Glimmingehus to execute the order in a second attempt. However, before they could carry out the order, a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad, and the Swedes had to abandon the demolition attempts. Throughout the 18th century the castle was used as deposit for agricultural produce and in 1924 it was donated to the Swedish state. Today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

On site there is a museum, medieval kitchen, shop and restaurant and coffee house. During summer time there are several guided tours daily. In local folklore, the castle is described as haunted by multiple ghosts and the tradition of storytelling inspired by the castle is continued in the summer events at the castle called "Strange stories and terrifying tales".

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Historic Site of the week

Glimmingehus

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