Praetorium Köln

In Cologne's historic centre, MiQua. LVR-Jüdisches Museum im Archäologischen Quartier Köln is being created as a museum over an approximately 6,000 m² excavation area on and around the Rathausplatz. The complex makes the city's roughly 2,000-year history in the city centre immediately tangible and places particular focus on the Roman Praetorium and the medieval Jewish quarter.

The project includes underground remains beneath the Spanischen Bau of the town hall as well as on the Rathausplatz, which until now has been largely open due to post-war circumstances. A central underground circuit leads through the remains of the Roman governor's palace (Praetorium), the Jewish quarter with its synagogue, mikveh and bimah, and the medieval goldsmiths' quarter. The Praetorium has been part of the Lower Germanic Limes UNESCO World Heritage since 2021. In the above-ground museum building, the city's Jewish history from the Middle Ages to the present is conveyed through objects, biographies and interactive stations.

The discoveries date back to the post-war period, when initial excavations uncovered and conserved Roman foundation remains. In the following decades, excavations, planning designs and public debates evolved; these included disputes over location, concept and financing as well as external reviews of the archaeological work. The Landschaftsverband Rheinland later assumed responsibility; after a phase of public consultation the institution received its current name.

A total of approximately 2,400 m² of exhibition space is planned, making connections between antiquity, the Middle Ages and the modern era visible above and below ground. Three thematic focal points structure the museum: Praetorium and royal seat, the Jewish quarter and its subsequent history, and the goldsmiths' quarter. Despite long-standing construction and funding problems, MiQua is already active with educational programmes; in 2025 the construction phase also produced an extraordinary find: a lararium from the 2nd century, discovered for the first time north of the Alps.