Diana Denkmal
Bollendorf
Deae Dianae Q(uintus) Postumius Potens V(otum) S(olvit) - "To the goddess Diana, Quintus Postumius Potens (dedicated the stone and) fulfilled the vow.". This is the inscription on the base of the monument in the middle of the forest at the foot of Niederburg Castle, not far from Weilerbach Castle. It is not known why the aforementioned man had a relief with an inscription carved out of the sandstone rock here in the 2nd century. Perhaps he had particularly good hunting luck or he invoked the goddess to protect the forest. According to a brochure, Diana was the guardian of the forest and hunting, a kind of "heavenly chief forester".
All that remains of the monument is the plinth, on which the legs and remains of a female figure's robe and parts of a dog can be seen. As there are several similar depictions of this type from Roman times, it is possible to reconstruct the depiction of the goddess Diana with a hunting bow and a dog as her companion .
What happened to the monument? Nobody knows. According to legend, St. Willibrord, founder of Echternach Abbey, destroyed the monument in the course of the Christianization of the region - similar to what he is said to have done to the Fraubille Cross.
The Diana Monument is one of many Roman cultural monuments in the Southern Eifel. In and around Bollendorf, in Ernzen, Holsthum, Wallendorf and other places in the Felsenland region, there are other remains from antiquity that are well worth seeing.