MARZOLL
District Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany.
An extensive villa rustica ca. 9 km SW of the
municipium Iuvavum (Salzburg). Settlement began in
the middle of the 1st c. B.C. (according to finds) with
a Celtic agricultural establishment. Two Roman building periods using wood construction have been established for Augustan times. About the time of Hadrian
the estate with its auxiliary buildings was rebuilt in
stone. The main building was then 52 m long; its two
wings with several stories formed an inner courtyard
22 x 25 m. On the fourth side the courtyard was closed
by a wall with a centrally located entrance gate. A
thorough rebuilding took place in the second half of the
2d c. A.D. The wings which previously had dominated
the building were reduced in size and length giving
greater importance to the central two-story building.
About 170-180 the new main building was richly decorated with wall and ceiling frescos, using plant motifs,
and with floor mosaics. The study of the mosaics revealed that they were created by a group of workshops
which had produced for Iuvavum and its region until the
3d c. A.D. and now finally could be identified. About
the middle of the 3d c., all the buildings were destroyed
by fire, probably caused by a raid of the Alemanni.
The settlement was then relocated in a more protected
place close at hand, as indicated by a number of late
Roman finds and by the name of the place, which in
documents from the end of the 8th c. is called Marciolae.
Mosaics, frescos, and smaller finds are in the Prähistorische Staatssammlung in München.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
R. Christlein, “Ein römisches Gebäude
in Marzoll,”
Bayerische Vorgeschichtsblätter 28 (1963)
30-57
MPI; H.-J. Kellner, “Die röimischen Mosaiken von
Marzoll,”
Germania 41 (1963) 18-28
PI.
H.-J. KELLNER
