Igel Column

The Igel Column is a Roman funerary monument near the village of Igel in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, notable for its height and richly carved relief decoration. It dates to the Roman imperial period and commemorates a wealthy local family.

The column is extensively decorated with high-relief panels showing mythological and civic motifs and includes an inscribed dedication by the family that commissioned it. It stands approximately 23 metres high and is one of the best-preserved examples of monumental Roman funerary sculpture in the region.

Built in the 3rd century AD by members of the local Secundinii family as a monumental tomb marker, the column functioned as a visible statement of wealth and status and has survived as an important Roman-era monument in the Rhineland.

The monument stands beside the village of Igel, roughly a few kilometres northeast of the city of Trier, in a rural landscape of vineyards and rolling hills.

• Height and decoration: About 23 metres tall and richly decorated with carved reliefs depicting scenes of daily life, myth and the funerary family that commissioned it.
• UNESCO status: Included in the UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Roman Monuments, Cathedral and Church of Our Lady in Trier as an outstanding Roman funerary monument north of the Alps.