The Landesmuseum (State Museum of Rhineland-Palatinate) occupies a former electoral palace on the Große Bleiche and spans prehistoric times through the present. The Roman collection is the strongest, reflecting Mainz's origin as the Roman legionary fortress of Mogontiacum — the largest Roman military base north of the Alps in its day.
The Roman galleries display sculpture, pottery, weapons, and everyday objects from the first through fourth centuries CE. Particularly impressive are the river god sculptures, the column of Jupiter, and the fragments of large bronze imperial statues. The medieval and early modern sections of the collection are also substantial, and the museum holds a significant collection of Jewish gravestones from the medieval Mainz cemetery, one of the oldest Jewish communities in the German-speaking world.