Lullingstone Roman Villa - Kent, England. Full tour.

Описание: Lullingstone Roman Villa – This lavish villa may have been the residence of an Emperor of Rome. The villa is located in the beautiful Daerwent Valley in Kent, England. The visible remains of the villa include stone foundations and exquisite mosaic floors. Some of the earliest evidence of Christianity in Britain was found at this sight. My film takes you on an entire tour around the villa.

Reasons to visit –

• Stunning mosaic floors.
• Christian house church.
• Site of importance due to some of the earliest evidence of
Christianity in England.
• Extensive remains of the villa’s foundations and Roman Baths.
• Once the possible residence of a Roman Governor of Britain
and future Emperor.
• A collection of finds and artefacts.
• Display telling the story of the religious wall paintings found at
the villa.
• Find out how the Romans lived and see the type of villas they
lived in.
• Great place for children to learn about the Romans.

The villa is contained in a covered building making it suitable to visit all year round. It also has a first floor viewing platform which gives a great view of the villa and mosaics. The Villa also has a shop and offers drinks and snacks, but doesn’t have a café. The site is owned and run by English Heritage.

The History bit -

After the Romans invaded Britain in AD43, there was a period of occupation and settlement which lasted for more than 350 years. Lullingstone Villa was built sometime after AD80 and was lived in for most of the Roman occupation. The villa was occupied by wealthy owners, as the villa was improved several times, with the addition of heated rooms, mosaics, an apsidal dining room and a later bath-house wing.

It is believed that the Emperor Pertinax (AD193) may have lived at the villa whilst he was governor of Britain (AD185-6). Two marble busts were discovered at the villa, which are believed to be of Pertinax and his father. The villa may have been used as his country retreat.

Roman Religion -

The villa has evidence of the different types of Roman religion which was a very important part of Roman life, they worshiped many gods, including Jupiter and Mars. They also believed in local gods and each household had it’s own shrine for their guardian spirit. The original villa contained a pagan shrine, in the basement room, which contained a deep well. The Romans would often adopt the gods of the places they had conquered, sometimes combining them with their own gods.

Christians were persecuted by the Romans and it wasn’t until after AD311 that Rome began to take a more tolerant attitude towards Christianity. There are indications in the mosaics at Lullingstone of hidden Christian messages, which could indicate the owner was perhaps afraid to worship openly. It wasn’t until the reign of Emperor Constantine I (AD307-337) that Christianity was finally made legal in Rome. Sometime later the rooms above the cult room at Lullingstone were converted into a house church. Fragments of painted wall plaster were discovered at the site, showing christian symbols, these are the only wall paintings containing Christian imagery found in Roman Britain. The original wall paintings are on display at the British Museum.

Interesting facts –

Emperor Pertinax was the son of a freed slave who rose to be Emperor of Rome (AD193), tragically it lasted for only 3 months as he was assassinated. Pertinax was also the Governor of Britain during his career, this also ended badly when he narrowly avoided being killed and was then forced to resign.

Christian symbols- It is believed that the mosaic floors may contain secret Christian messages, the abduction of Jupiter contains a phrase , which may contain the name Jesus hidden within the text.

Location: Lullingstone Lane, Eynsford, Kent, DA4 0JA.

Check the official website for details and opening times:
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/v...

Thank you for watching my film, I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, please feel free to like it and leave a comment. Why don’t you have a look at some of the other films on my channel.

The rights for all trademarks and copyrighted material remains with the owners, no infringement of copyright is intended. Any content used here is with the intention of fair use.

Music credits:

Epic Roman Music MarK Anthony by Derek & Brandon Feichter

Beautiful Greek Music – Hera by Derek & Brandon Feichter

All tracks used under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

Many thanks to Derek & Brandon.

Derek & Brandon’s Youtube channel
   / @derekbrandonfiechter  

You can buy their music here:
iTunes : https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1360... Bandcamp : https://dbfiechter.bandcamp.com/album... Amazon mp3 : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BH8PTVR

Roman Map Graphic courtesy of Tom Benford

Film © MrFord4210