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Dublin Grocery Store Installs Glass Floor So People Can See The 11th Century House Below

If you’d like to get a glimpse of medieval history, you don’t necessarily have to go to a museum or open a history book. Apparently, you can simply visit a grocery store. Sounds confusing? Let us explain.

In the city of Dublin, Ireland, there’s a new Lidl store with a glass floor that allows shoppers to peer down into medieval Viking history. Turns out, the construction of this grocery store has led to the discovery of an 11th century medieval home.

During the supermarket’s construction, archaeologists discovered a 1,000-year-old home that once belonged to Viking ancestors

Image credits: RTÉ News

Instead of building on top of the site and covering the ruins, the team decided to instal glass flooring that would let customers peer down into local history.

“The amazing thing about it is it’s an everyday structure. It’s somewhere that people live. It’s somewhere that people, you know, sat down in the evening and did a bit of craft work while they were sitting around the fire. It’s a place, you know, you can imagine them laughing and joking or shedding tears over, you know, various things,” one of the archaeologists named Paul Duffy told NPR.

The team decided to instal glass flooring that would let customers peer down into local history

Dublin Grocery Store Installs Glass Floor So People Can See The 11th Century House Below

Image credits: RTÉ News

“We were delighted that such a meaningful part of the theatre was found, recognized, and is now presented to the public. I think it’s really fantastic that Lidl is displaying it right in front of their tills,” Linzi Simpson, consultant archaeologist for the project, told RTÉ News.

“We were delighted that such a meaningful part of the theatre was found, recognized, and is now presented to the public”

Image credits: RTÉ News

The 11th-century medieval home won’t be the only thing to peer down into. Apparently, customers will also be able to take a look at at the remains of an 18th century ‘pit trap’ that was once part of the Aungier Street theatre.

A second glass panel lets shoppers take a look at an 18th-century “pit trap” from the stage of the old Aungier Street Theatre

Dublin Grocery Store Installs Glass Floor So People Can See The 11th Century House Below

Image credits: RTÉ News

Dublin Grocery Store Installs Glass Floor So People Can See The 11th Century House Below

Image credits: RTÉ News

“The thing that becomes clear when you’re looking at these structures and the conditions that people were living in, you know, they were subject to very violent events and catastrophic plagues,” Paul Duffy told NPR. “But the fact that this structure has been rebuilt not once, but probably twice, it just shows that there was obviously tremendous resilience and fortitude back then. And, you know, it’s something that it’s obviously still in us. You know, we’re the same people. We’re the same people that they were.”

Dublin Grocery Store Installs Glass Floor So People Can See The 11th Century House Below

Image credits: RTÉ News

Here’s what people on the interwebs are saying about this unique grocery store

Dublin Grocery Store Installs Glass Floor So People Can See The 11th Century House Below

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Lukas is a photo editor at Bored Panda. 4th year in Vilnius Gediminas Technical University as a graphic designer. Can do whatever he sets his mind to.

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Lukas is a photo editor at Bored Panda. 4th year in Vilnius Gediminas Technical University as a graphic designer. Can do whatever he sets his mind to.

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Julija Svidraitė is an editor here at Bored Panda who has a bachelor's degree in Psychology. Before starting her journey at BP, she had worked as a social media specialist at a marketing agency. She has also tried herself in a few different fields working as an intern: from practicing graphic design at a social media marketing agency, to being an assistant at a psychiatric hospital. Besides writing, Julija is also very passionate about illustrating, drinking coffee, and watching crime documentaries. You can find her in Bored Panda Office or reach her at julija.s@boredpanda.com.

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What do you think ?

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Stannous Flouride 4 years ago

In Roma it's nearly impossible to dig a garden without discovering something. So when they decided to run subways under the city they discovered so many new things that they were constantly having to rewrite the plans. They managed to incorporate many of the discoveries into the stations and pathways, making travel there almost as much one of time as of space. gettyimage...e0b142.jpg

5points

AlfalfaCow 4 years ago

At least they aren't destroying it to build more stores. Need more history and nature in our lives. Must learn from past mistakes to avoid making them!!!!!!!!

5points

lara 4 years ago

I love this. The first time we went to York Minster they were excavating a ancient Roman fort site that was under the area. We could look down from the first floor inside and see what they were doing. When we went back, several years later, they had finished and it was like looking hundreds of years into the past. I almost expected to see Roman soldiers sitting around a campfire. The second most impressive thing was the chapel dedicated to the War Dead. It was the single most devastating thing I saw on the trip. I was overwhelmed.

5points

natie marie 4 years ago

What a great idea

2points

Víctor Alfonso García Olmo 4 years ago

In Triana, near near Seville ;-D, you can see an old Inquisition castle below the Market Mall. triana-1-5...e4107f.jpg

2points

Anne Reid 4 years ago

No one ever expects the Inquisition.

1point

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Paleo 2 years ago

The Hiberno-Norse were the descendants of Vikings in Ireland and had mixture of Gaelic and Scandinavian heritage. Not ancestors...

1point

Barbara Stewart 4 years ago

This is so cool.

1point

Lisa Chambers 4 years ago

I have seen the roman road in Austria like this and the Acropolis Museum in Athens has built a glass walkway over most of the ruins. This is really the best way because no one really can get down there and mess with it. I miss being able to shop at Lidl too.

1point

degunk87 4 years ago

Lisa Chambers -

0points

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Anne Reid 4 years ago

In downtown Manhattan, a burial ground was found while a new skyscraper was being built. It turned out to be a burial ground for both slaves & free Blacks. The skyscraper’s blueprint was altered to cut back part of the lobby. The burial ground was not included in the footprint of the building, it was left intact, but with glass over the graves. So at any time, anyone can go and view the African Burial Ground without entering the building. There are signs explaining what you’re looking at. Which is awesome, considering how many times NYC knowingly built on cemeteries.

1point

Full Name 4 years ago

What a wonderful story. Us pandas will never tire of posts like this.

1point

Anna Vinefly 3 years ago

i love Irland so much... Irland is only country where i can live, after my country <3

0points

Dorothy Cloud 3 years ago

I think it's wonderful that they saved part of their history. I don't think the U.S. would!

0points

Kenny Kulbiski 4 years ago (edited)

Fascinating and I loved it. I'm confused though. How could 11th century Hiberno Norse be ancestors to Vikings who came to Ireland in the 9th century or earlier? I'm referring to the video and it's quite possible I misunderstood.

0points

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Stannous Flouride 4 years ago

5points

AlfalfaCow 4 years ago

At least they aren't destroying it to build more stores. Need more history and nature in our lives. Must learn from past mistakes to avoid making them!!!!!!!!

5points