The Gallo-Roman Museum (, , ) is an archeological museum in

Tongeren Tongeren (; ; ; ) is a city and former municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the only Roman administrative capital wit ...

. It is dedicated to the prehistorical times and Roman age of the region in South East

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

. The museum was established in 1954 and received its modern building in 1994. In 2011, it was awarded as the European Museum of the Year.

History

In the 19th century the Royal History and Antiquarian Society of Tongeren had amassed a collection of archaeological discoveries from the area. Some of this collection was then displayed in the city from 1854. In 1937 the Provincial Museum opened in Hasselt where the most important pieces of the Tongeren collection were exhibited. In 1954 the Provincial Gallo-Roman Museum was opened in Tongeren. The collection was expanded through donations and digs carried out by the museum itself and the Nationale Dienst voor Opgravingen (National Department for Excavations). After public pressure for a new home for the collection, a new building by architect Alfredo de Gregorio was opened in 1994. This new building with new and expanded exhibition areas resulted in an increase in the number of visitors. The site was further expanded in 2006. The permanent exhibition starts with the first humanoids in the region, the Neanderthals. It presents following cultures of hunters and several waves of farmers. The third floor is dedicated to the

Gallo-Roman culture Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely ...

located in

. The exhibition closes with the first signs of Christianity. File:Gallo-Roman Museum of Tongeren, Belgium (27541086092) (2).jpg, Gallo-Roman Museum of Tongeren File:Belgisch-limburg 452.JPG, Model of Roman Tongeren File:Belgisch-limburg 469.JPG, Roman citizens walking to a burial File:Display at Gallo-Roman Museum of Tongeren, Belgium (27029817584).jpg, Gallic recruit to Roman Legions File:Display at Gallo-Roman Museum of Tongeren, Belgium (27362902090).jpg, Roman Soldier

Awards

In 2011, the museum was awarded the European Museum of the Year Award and was the first Belgian museum to receive this award. In 2014 the museum was awarded the Museum Prize worth 5,000 euros. The jury praised the way in which "the Gallo-Roman Museum has been true to the discipline of archaeology in all its forms for many years". In addition, according to the jury, "the museum knows how to host exhibitions that reach a lot of the public and establishes a broad pedagogy with attention to different target groups". In 2016, the museum won the Romulus Prize "for the massive efforts the museum provides to map Rome, Romans and ancient times in our country".

Temporary exhibitions

* In 1995 the museum created an exhibition about the Neanderthals in Europa. It was later presented also in Hamburg, Germany. * 2011:

Ambiorix Ambiorix (Gaulish "king of the surroundings", or "king-protector") ( 54–53 BC) was, together with Cativolcus, prince of the Eburones, leader of a Belgic tribe of north-eastern Gaul (Gallia Belgica), where modern Belgium is located. In the ...

, King of the

Eburones The Eburones ( Greek: ) were a Gaulish- Germanic tribe dwelling in the northeast of Gaul, who lived north of the Ardennes in the region near what is now the southern Netherlands, eastern Belgium and the German Rhineland, in the period immediately ...

* 2011/2012: ''

Sagalassos Sagalassos (), also known as Selgessos () and Sagallesos (), is an archaeological site in southwestern Turkey, about 100 km north of Antalya (ancient Attaleia) and 30 km from Burdur and Isparta. The ancient ruins of Sagalassos are 7&n ...

, City of Dreams'' * 2013: ''De Etrusken - Una storia particolare'' * 2015: ''Gladiators - Heroes of the Colosseum'' * 2016: Timeless Beauty (Artefacts and Photographs by Marc Lagrange). * 2021: ''Face to face with the Romans''

References

External links

* * {{authority control Museums in Limburg (Belgium) Museums established in 1954 Archaeological museums in Belgium Buildings and structures in Tongeren