The porticus villa at Konz
The analogies are even stronger, if one turns from here
to a building, excavated early in 1959, 8 km. upstream from
Trier, on a high embankment formed by the confluence of
the river Saar with the Moselle: the imperial summer
residence of Konz, the ancient Contionacum.[294]
This large
and elegant porticus villa (fig. 241.A and B), of an overall
length of 84 m. and an overall width of 38 m., consisted
of a central audience hall flanked on either side by an open
court that had attached to its outer side two massive cross
wings, with dwelling units, view terraces and a bath.
Lengthwise these units were connected by two magnificent
porticos. Admittedly, even here the analogies tend to
become evasive if one begins to focus on details: the courts
are not colonnaded. Nevertheless, the two buildings make
it forcefully clear that the Novitiate and Infirmary complex
of the Plan of St. Gall, with its two open courts symmetrically
laid out to either side of a dominant center block
had its historical roots in Roman palace architecture.
