Hildesheim
In the Middle Ages, Hildesheim was one of the biggest and most important cities of Germany. Today, the splendid Market Place still tells of its former glory; St. Mary's Cathedral and the Church of St. Michael's, both of them a thousand years old, have been on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list since 1985.St. Michael's in particular has been virtually unaltered for a full millenium; together, the two large churches convey a sense of Ottonian Romanesque architecture and the Old Saxon culture like no other place in the world.
Another historical sensation came to light by pure chance. On October 17, 1868, Prussian soldiers working on a hill near the old town unearthed a fantastic treasure: an exquisite set of some 70 silver dishes - the largest collection of Roman silver ever found outside the Empire. Today it is on display in the Altes Museum in Berlin.
A Roman Treasure far from Rome
Hildesheim Silver
In 1868, soldiers stumbled upon an antique dinner service: some 70 pieces of pure silver, some of them plated with gold, made during the era of Emperor Augustus – among them the Athena Bowl, one of the most beautiful pieces of Roman silver anywhere.▶The Museum of Islamic Art▶ Hildesheim
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