Oil Merchant's House

The latest reconstruction in the Roman city quarter involves business premises for high quality goods with an adjoining roofed portico that were rebuilt along South Street in front of the building in which the owner lived. Along with a counter for street sales, the business also had a storeroom, a showroom and a salesroom for quite a large number of customers. The reconstructions show the business premises of a Roman oil merchant.

Besides wine, olive oil was among the most frequently imported products in long-distance trading. Olive oil, in particular, was a profitable commodity. It was not only a crucial basic food item, but also played an enormous role in body care as the basic ingredient for salves, for protection against sun and cold, and above all, as a fuel for oil lamps and thus a lighting product.

The reconstruction of the business premises illuminates the part that Carnuntum played as an economic center and as a market for long-distance trading at the junction of two key trade routes: the Danube River and the Amber Route.