Ganventa was a settlement of

Roman antiquity In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdo ...

near the

Zeelandic Zeelandic (; ; ) is a group of language varieties spoken in the southwestern parts of the Netherlands. It is currently considered a Low Franconian dialect of Dutch, but there have been movements to promote the status of Zeelandic from a dial ...

town of Colijnsplaat. It was situated on the southern shore of the river

Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...

. There was a temple for the goddess

Nehalennia Nehalennia (also Nehalenia, Nehalaenniae, Nehalaenia) is a tutelary goddess who was worshipped in 2nd- and 3rd-centuryLendering (2006). Gallia Belgica by travelers, especially sailors and traders, at the mouth of the Scheldt. Her origin is un ...

here. Little is known about Nehalennia, but she must have been a Celtic or Germanic goddess, with power over trade and seafaring. Many travelers visited Ganventa on their journey, and prayed to Nehalennia for a safe journey over sea. The large number of altar stones found indicates that Ganventa was a major site for the worship of the goddess. Altars and remains of the temple were lifted out of the

Eastern Scheldt The Eastern Scheldt () is a former estuary in the province of Zeeland, Netherlands, between Schouwen-Duiveland and Tholen on the north and Noord-Beveland and Zuid-Beveland on the south. It also features the largest national park in the Net ...

in 1970. In 2005, a replica of the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), 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, Roman culture, language ...

temple in Colijnsplaat was opened to the public.

Finds after 1970

On 14 April 1970m fisherman K. J. Bout found parts of an altar to Nehalennia in his nets while fishing near Colijnsplaat. Focused searches in 1970, 1971, and 1974 resulted in the find of about 240 altars and statues, votive stones and remains of a Roman building. These are now stored and displayed in the National Museum of Antiquities in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

. These were found in the ''Schaar of Colijnsplaat'', a fairway in the Eastern Scheldt, where the temple of Nehalennia once stood. The names of the persons who dedicated the statues and altars show that they were merchants from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

and

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. They traded in salt, fish sauce, and textiles. Other wares included ceramics from the area around the Rhine, terracotta figurines from Cologne and Trier, and wine from Southern France and the Mosel. One inscription found translates to: "''Before Nehalennia, Marcus Exingius Agricola, citizen of Trier, salt merchant in Cologne, has fulfilled his promise, willing and with reason.''" The majority of the votive offerings were donated by merchants to beseech the goddess for safe passage to Britannia. In the period after the year 300, the temple disappeared into the ''Schaar of Colijnsplaat'', near the settlement of Ganventa. Since 1999, a group of Flemish amateur archaeologists belonging to the ''Landelijke Werkgroep Archeologie Onder Water'' (National Work Group of Underwater Archaeology) has worked to map the bottom of the sea, around the location where the temple disappeared beneath the waves. A replica of the temple was built in Colijnsplaat in 2004.

External links

www.nehalennia-tempel.nl
A website about the temple (in Dutch). * en
Het verhaal van Zeeland
blz. 26–27, Verloren B.V, 2005 (in Dutch) {{Authority control Germania Inferior History of Zeeland Noord-Beveland