Igeler Säule / Mausolée d'Igel / Igel Column

The monument escaped destruction after the decline of the Roman Empire, because, in the Middle Ages, the main relief on the southern site was considered to be a representation of the marriage of Constantius Chorus and Saint Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great.

The pillar monument, 23 m in height and made of red sandstone, was erected around 250 AD by the brothers Lucius Secundinius Aventinus and Lucius Secundinius Securus to honor themselves and their deceased relatives.

It is rich in colourful decorations, which show scenes of the everyday and work life of the cloth merchants and of mythology. Besides its purpose to serve as memorial for the dead family members, the monument should also advertise the cloth trade of the Secundinius family in Trier.

A reconstruction of the column with its original decoration is shown in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Trier.

Source: www.wikipedia.org