Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Ich habe heute versucht, ein paar Wassertropfenbilder mit meiner Kamera zu schießen. Aber es ist schwerer als ich dachte. Besonders, wenn ich alles alleine mache. Aber als Mini mich da so sah, entschied er, doch mal vorbeizuschauen. Er ist sehr neugierig! Und so schlau. Bevor er kam, nahm er seinen kleinen Schirm, um zu vermeiden, dass er am Ende der Entdeckungsreise nass ist.

Today I tried to get some water drop shots with my camera. But it's more difficult than I thought. Especially when doing everything on my own. But when Mini saw me there, he decided to take a look. He's so curious! And so smart. Before he came he took his little umbrella to avoid being wet after that exploration.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

LIQUID MEMORY - PHILIPP GEIST

Outdoor - Video – Installation

in Oberwesel / Kulturstiftung Hütte

Luminale - Rheinpartie "auf zu neuen ufern"

02 – 04. Oktober 2009

www.rheinpartie.com

550 km Oberwesel

Liquid Memory / Riverine Zones

Video-installations of Philipp Geist (Berlin), monastery gardens of family Hütte,

Monastery gardens and sacristy, Oberstr. 11

Fr 20-24h / Saturday 20-24h / Su 20-23h

The artist Philipp Geist (Berlin) shows his video installation „ Liquid Memory“ in the church ruins and in the sacristy of the former Minorite cloister in Oberwesel. In his installation Philipp Geist picks out the element water as a central theme and puts this in the immediate connection to the historical place and the Rhine Valley. Water and time are the constants in the oeuvre of Philipp Geist. He works with the media videoinstallation, audio/visual performance, painting and photography. His projects integrate space, sound and moving image.

With this installation, the artist renounces the use of canvases and projects directly onto parts of the former cloister facade, the ruins and onto fog as a transpartent and volatile projection-ground. An interaction between the concrete and tangible wall and the clear evaporating projection will bring together time and space.

Geist will exhibit his long term water-project ´Riverine Zones´ in the former sacristy. This video-space installation takes the viewer on an exploratory expedition through international rivers. The artist makes a world visible which is so near and yet so distant to us. With an underwater camera he roams through all zones of the river: the ground, the deep or shallow water and the surface. Thus originate Geist´s partly minimum-puristic, partly colour-intensive, dream-like and shadowy-breakable image compositions. Geist covers– from the water perspective– also the bank area, from which, using another English term -„riverine“- the project receives its name.

Profile:

Philipp Geist works internationally as a light and multi-media artist in the mediums of video, performance, photography and painting. The Berlin artist Philipp Geist (1976) showed a 4D mapping installation on the facade of the royal throne in Bangkok on the occasion of king Bhumibol's 82nd birthday in December 2009. The one-hour-show was the central part of the celebrations and was seen by 2-3 million of visitors. In 2008, during the 'Long Night of the Museums', he showed his video installation 'time fades' at the Kulturforum. In this installation Geist interprets the themes of space and time. He avoids using canvasses and projects directly on parts of the façade of the architecture and on transparent grounds like sheets of gauze and fog.In September 2007, he realized the video installation 'Time Lines' on the entire front of the Palazzo delle Espozioni in Rome at its re-opening after it had been closed for five years. The installation was opened by the mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, and was seen by approx. 20.000 visitors. In 2005, he realized the large project 'Winterzauber' ('Winter Magic') for the Lake Side Restaurant in Zurich and in 2006, he opened the Salon Noir within the context of the exhibition 'Melancholie, Genie und Wahnsinn' ('Melancholy, Genius and Insanity') in the Berlin Neuen National Galerie. Together with the symphony orchestra OBC Barcelona and the Finnish sound ensemble Pan Sonic, Geist opened in 2004 the Sonar Festival in Barcelona. His works were shown at the Dissonanze Festival in Rome, at Clubtransmediale in Berlin and at the Mutek Festival in Montreal which is renowned for new media. He has exhibited his live video performances internationally at the Central House of Artists (CHA) in Moscow, the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in London, the National Gallery in Warsaw (Zacheta) and at the opening of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.Further projects are characterized by their complexity and the integration of the location, the sound and moving images.

550 km Oberwesel

Liquid Memory / Riverine Zones

Video-installations of Philipp Geist (Berlin), monastery gardens of family Hütte,

Monastery gardens and sacristy, Oberstr. 11

Fr 20-24h / Saturday 20-24h / Su 20-23h

Der Berliner Künstler Philipp Geist (1976) zeigt seine Videoinstallation 'LIQUID MEMORY' an der Klosterruine und in der Sakristei in Oberwesel (Oberes Mittelrheintal) im Zeitraum vom 01. - 04. Oktober 2009. In seiner Installation thematisiert Philipp Geist das Element Wasser und setzt dieses in den unmittelbaren Zusammenhang zu dem geschichtlichen Ort und dem Rheintal.

Wasser und Zeit sind die Konstanten im Werk von Philipp Geist. Der Künstler, Autodidakt arbeitet international in den Medien Videoinstallation, Audio/Visuelle Performance, Malerei und Fotografie. Seine Projekte sind in erster Linie gekennzeichnet durch ihre Integration von Raum, Ton und Bewegbild.

Bei der Installation verzichtet der Künstler auf den Einsatz von Leinwänden und projiziert direkt auf Teile der ehemaligen Klosterfassade, die Ruine und auf den transparenten, flüchtigen Projektionsgrund Nebel. Es entsteht ein Zusammenspiel zwischen der konkreten, greifbaren Wand und der transparenten, sich verflüchtigenden Projektionsfläche des Nebels. Der sich temporäre Projektionsgrund Nebel steht dabei für das ungreifbare Moment der Zeit und damit auch der Geschichte, und Erinnerung. So entwickelt Geist einen Dialog mit dem Ort und seiner künstlerischen Arbeit.

In der Sakristei wird Geist sein langfristiges Wasser - Projekt Riverine Zones ausstellen. Die Video-Raum-Installation ''Riverine Zones'' nimmt den Betrachter mit auf eine Entdeckungsreise durch internationale Flüsse. Der Künstler macht eine Welt sichtbar, die uns so nah und gleichzeitig doch so fern ist. Mit einer Unterwasser-Kamera streift er durch alle Zonen des Flusses: den Grund, das tiefe oder seichte Wasser und die Oberfläche. So entstehen Geists teils minimal-puristische, teils farbintensiven, traumartigen und schemenhaft-zerbrechlichen Bildkompositionen. Geist bezieht auch, aus der Wasserperspektive, das Ufergebiet mit ein, dessen englische Bezeichnung „riverine“ sogar Namensgeber des Projekts wurde.

Philipp Geist arbeitet international als Licht- und Multimediakünstler. Im Dezember 2009 bespielte Geist über einen Zeitraum von neun Tagen den königlichen Thron in Bangkok mit einer Video-Mapping-Installation anlässlich des 82. Geburtstags des thailändischen Königs Bhumibol Adulyadej. Die Installation wurde von 2,5 Millionen Besuchern vor Ort gesehen. Im Juni 2010 zeigte er im Rahmen des internationalen Medien-Festivals Mutek die Außen-Installation ,Time Drifts‘ am Place des Arts im Zentrum von Montreal. Im Januar 2008 entwickelte Geist für die Piazzetta am Kulturforum in Berlin die Lichtinstallation 'Time Fades'. Im September 2007 bespielte er das zeitgenössische Kunstmuseum 'Palazzo delle Esposizioni' im Zentrum von Rom mit der Video-Mapping-Installation 'Time Lines'. Im Dezember 2005 realisierte er das Fassaden-Projekt 'Winterzauber' in Zürich. Im Februar 2006 eröffnete er im Kontext der Ausstellung 'Melancholie, Genie und Wahnsinn' den Salon Noir in der Neuen Nationalgalerie in Berlin. Gemeinsam mit dem Sinfonieorchester OBC Barcelona und der finnischen Soundformation Pan Sonic eröffnete Geist 2004 das Sonar Festival im Auditorium Barcelona. Geists Projekte sind in erster Linie gekennzeichnet durch ihre Komplexität in der Integration von Raum, Ton und Bewegbild.

www.kulturhaus-oberwesel.de

www.videogeist.de

www.p-geist.de

riverine.videogeist.de

Watch this video on Vimeo. Video created by Philipp Geist | Videogeist.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

Von der Hinteren Goinger Halt in Richtung Süden ein Traumblick bei kühlen Herbsttemperaturen

Augusta Raurica is a Roman archaeological site and an open-air museum in Switzerland located on the south bank of the Rhine river about 20 km east of Basel near the villages of Augst and Kaiseraugst. It is the site of the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine.

Founding

A statue of Plancus, the city's founder, in the city hall of Basel, Switzerland.

Augusta Raurica, or Colonia Augusta Rauracorum, was founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus around 44 BC in the vicinity of a local Gallic tribe, the Rauraci, relatives of the Helvetii. No archaeological evidence from this period has yet been found, leading to the conclusion that, either the settlement of the colony was disturbed by the civil war following the death of Julius Caesar, or that Plancus' colony was actually in the area of modern Basel, not Augst.

Successful colonization of the site had to wait for Augustus' conquest of the central Alps around 15 BC. The oldest find to date at Augusta Raurica has been dated to 6 BC by dendrochronology.

Name

The inscription on Munatius Plancus' grave merely states the name of the colony as Colonia Raurica. A fragmentary inscription from the Augustinian period speaks of the Colonia P[aterna] (?) M[unatia] (?) [Felix] (?) [Apolli]naris [Augusta E]merita [Raur]ica (letters in brackets are reconstructions). Apart from this fragmentary reference, the first certain witness to the use of the name Augustus comes from the geographer Ptolemy in the Ancient Greek form Augústa Rauríkon (lat. Augusta Rauricorum).

Augusta Raurica played an important role in Augustus' plans of conquest with two other colonies that bear his name: Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta at the southern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass) and Augusta Vindelicum (modern Augsburg, an outpost on the Danube). These three Augustae form the corners of a triangle that reaches across the alpine conquests of Augustus, the long base of which form the Rhine knee to the Danube formed the frontier against unconquered Germania.

Layout of the settlement

During excavations it was determined that the city was founded on a high plateau just south of the Rhine river. Two small rivers, the Ergolz and Violen, have carved a triangle in the plateau, the base of which is about 1 kilometer wide along the base of the Jura Mountains, and the apex points northward toward the Rhine, about 1 kilometer from the base. This point is the site of the Roman castrum, or military fortification. The city is, therefore, well-defended by steep slopes to the north, east, and west.

The next step in planning the city was the surveying of the area according to the architect's plans for the city. Every important public building had its specific place, starting with the temple of Jupiter as the sacred high point from which the street network would spread. The architect, who was responsible for executing the plans for the city, next laid a longitudinal axis across the triangle 36˚ west of north to form the main street of the settlement. Other longitudinal streets were laid out parallel to the main street at intervals of 55 meters. The main street was then divided into sections of 66 meters (255 Roman feet), which formed the corners of 10 crossing streets. This created a series of rectangular blocks of around 50 by 60 meters. The streets were laid on a solid bed of gravel and flanked by gutters on both sides. The more important roads featured covered sidewalks behind rows of columns.

Borders

The limits of Colonia Raurica can no longer be determined with absolute accuracy. However the approximate boundaries can be determined by examining the extent of Augst in the Early Middle Ages. This would seem to indicate the colony extended from Basel toward the mouth of the Aare, then up the Aare to the mouth of the Sigger below Solothurn, across to the Lüssel, and then back down the Birs to Basel, though this is still conjecture. New research, based on tiles stamped with the mark of the Vindonissa Legion, indicates some administrative dependence on Vindonissa. This would indicate that the colony reached over the Bözberg toward Frick, with the Thiersteinberg below Frick forming the eastern boundary. The western boundary, was near the mouth of the Birs, possibly marked by a border station. Early Roman cremation remains, found in 1937 by the church in Neuallschwil, show that such a post did exist on the main road north (toward Blotzheim) into Alsace. The Colonia Raurica, on the whole, contained the modern Canton of Basel, the Frick valley, and the eastern Jura Mountains of the Canton of Solothurn. The total area of the colony was around 700 km².

Subsequent history

By the 2nd century AD, Augusta Raurica was a prosperous commercial trading centre and, in its glory days, the capital of a local Roman province. It is estimated that the population reached approximately 20,000 people. Augusta Raurica prospered between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and exported smoked pork and bacon to other parts of the Roman Empire. The city possessed the typical amenities of a Roman city, an amphitheatre, a main forum, several smaller forums, an aqueduct, a variety of temples, several public baths and the largest Roman theatre north of the Alps, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats. Many of these sites are open to visitors year-round.

Castrum Rauracense

In 250 AD, a powerful earthquake damaged a large part of the city. Shortly after, around 260 AD, Alemanni tribes and/or marauding Roman troops destroyed the city. The Romans attempted to maintain their military position by building a fortress on the Rhine, Castrum Rauracense, the walls of which are still partly intact. Augusta Raurica was resettled on a much smaller scale on the site of the castrum. These two settlements form the centers of the modern communities of Augst and Kaiseraugst.

In 1442, these communities were divided along the Ergolz and Violenbach [de] rivers. The western portion was given to Basel, which became a canton of Switzerland in 1501. In 1833, Augst became part of the Canton of Basel-Land. The eastern part became part of Habsburg territories and, to differentiate between the two towns, was renamed Kaiseraugst. Kaiseraugst became part of Switzerland in 1803 after the defeat of the Habsburgs during the Napoleonic Wars.

Augusta Raurica today

The excavation site and the late Roman castle, the Castrum Rauracense, are listed as heritage sites of national significance, as are the early Christian baptisterium and the brick kiln at Liebrüti.[1]

Excavations

Many of the Roman buildings have been discovered and conserved through excavations, and most are open to the public:

•Amphitheatre: only modest remains exist.

•Aqueduct: supplied Augusta Raurica with drinking water from the Liestal (parts are visible and accessible in Heidenloch in Liestal, as well as northeast of the treatment plant in Füllinsdorf).

•Main forum: with the temple of Jupiter, basilica, and the assembly chamber of the town council.

•Theater: forms an architectural unit with the temple across the street.

Several private commercial buildings also have been found (a taberna, a bakery, a potter, and a tile kiln), as well as portions of a sewer. Around 80% of the built-up area has yet to be excavated. Augusta Raurica is the best-preserved Roman city north of the Alps that has not been built-over in medieval or modern times.

Museum and Roman house

Silver treasure of Kaiseraugst

The Roman Museum houses the most important finds from the Roman city and presents the history of Augusta Raurica. In the museum, visitors will often find special exhibits, as well as most the significant archaeological find at Augusta Raurica: the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst. This treasure hoard was found in the fortress in 1961-1962, and it is presumed to have once been the property of a commander. The museum also has a reconstruction of a Roman house, with artifacts and reconstructions showing daily domestic and commercial life from the Roman period

Further reading

•Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Amt für Museen u. Archäologie d. Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal. Römermuseum Römerstadt Augusta Raurica, Augst 1.1980(1972–1975) - 4.1984(1978–1983); 5.1985ff.

•Jahresbericht Römerhaus und Museum Augst. Römermuseum, Augst 1962-1972. ISSN 0259-8817

•Forschungen in Augst. Schriftenreihe. bish. 36 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica. Römer-Museum, Augst-Basel 1.1977, 2.1975ff. (Index of publications)

•Ausgrabungen in Augst. 4 Bd. Stiftung Pro Augusta Raurica, Basel 1948ff.

•Augster Museumshefte. bish. 32 Bd. Römermuseum, Augst 1.1976ff. (Index of publications)

•Laur-Belart, Rudolf (1988), Führer durch Augusta Raurica (5th ed.), Augst

•Teodora Tomasevic Buck: Augusta Raurica. Probleme, Anregungen und Neufunde. Bregenz 2003. ISBN 3-901802-13-4

•Marion Benz: Augusta Raurica. Eine Entdeckungsreise durch die Zeit. In: Archäologie der Schweiz. (as.) Mitteilungsblatt. SGUF, Basel 26.2003, S. 2-84. ISSN 0255-9005

•Barbara Pfäffli: A short guide to Augusta Raurica. Augusta Raurica, Augst 2010, ISBN 978-3-7151-4008-7.

foto(s): Oliver Blum Film + Photography

www.oliverblum.com

550 km Oberwesel

Liquid Memory / Riverine Zones

Video-installations of Philipp Geist (Berlin), monastery gardens of family Hütte,

Monastery gardens and sacristy, Oberstr. 11

Fr 20-24h / Saturday 20-24h / Su 20-23h

The artist Philipp Geist (Berlin) shows his video installation „ Liquid Memory“ in the church ruins and in the sacristy of the former Minorite cloister in Oberwesel. In his installation Philipp Geist picks out the element water as a central theme and puts this in the immediate connection to the historical place and the Rhine Valley. Water and time are the constants in the oeuvre of Philipp Geist. He works with the media videoinstallation, audio/visual performance, painting and photography. His projects integrate space, sound and moving image.

With this installation, the artist renounces the use of canvases and projects directly onto parts of the former cloister facade, the ruins and onto fog as a transpartent and volatile projection-ground. An interaction between the concrete and tangible wall and the clear evaporating projection will bring together time and space.

Geist will exhibit his long term water-project ´Riverine Zones´ in the former sacristy. This video-space installation takes the viewer on an exploratory expedition through international rivers. The artist makes a world visible which is so near and yet so distant to us. With an underwater camera he roams through all zones of the river: the ground, the deep or shallow water and the surface. Thus originate Geist´s partly minimum-puristic, partly colour-intensive, dream-like and shadowy-breakable image compositions. Geist covers– from the water perspective– also the bank area, from which, using another English term -„riverine“- the project receives its name.

Profile:

Philipp Geist, born in 1976 in Witten, grown up in Weilheim (Bavaria), lives in Berlin since 1999. He works internationally in the media video installation, audio visual performances, painting and photography. Among others he has exhibited in 2002: Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. In 2004: Sonar Festival Barcelona, Mutek festival Montreal, Dissonanze festival, Rome. In 2005: Zurich, Winterzauber, video installation. In 2006: Salon Noir, New National Gallery Berlin. In 2007: Riverine video installation, Three Walls Gallery, Chicago; Video installation Time Lines Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome. In 2008: Kulturforum Berlin, Time Fades Australia Melbourne, Urban Screens– Riverine Movie Screening. In 2009: Geneva Palais Eynard, Parc des Bastions, Mapping festival…

www.kulturhaus-oberwesel.de

www.videogeist.de

www.p-geist.de

riverine.videogeist.de

------------------------

LIQUID MEMORY - PHILIPP GEIST

Outdoor - Video – Installation

in Oberwesel / Kulturstiftung Hütte

Luminale - Rheinpartie "auf zu neuen ufern"

02 – 04. Oktober 2009

Der Berliner Künstler Philipp Geist (1976) zeigt seine Videoinstallation 'LIQUID MEMORY' an der Klosterruine und in der Sakristei in Oberwesel (Oberes Mittelrheintal) im Zeitraum vom 01. - 04. Oktober 2009. In seiner Installation thematisiert Philipp Geist das Element Wasser und setzt dieses in den unmittelbaren Zusammenhang zu dem geschichtlichen Ort und dem Rheintal.

Wasser und Zeit sind die Konstanten im Werk von Philipp Geist. Der Künstler, Autodidakt arbeitet international in den Medien Videoinstallation, Audio/Visuelle Performance, Malerei und Fotografie. Seine Projekte sind in erster Linie gekennzeichnet durch ihre Integration von Raum, Ton und Bewegbild.

Bei der Installation verzichtet der Künstler auf den Einsatz von Leinwänden und projiziert direkt auf Teile der ehemaligen Klosterfassade, die Ruine und auf den transparenten, flüchtigen Projektionsgrund Nebel. Es entsteht ein Zusammenspiel zwischen der konkreten, greifbaren Wand und der transparenten, sich verflüchtigenden Projektionsfläche des Nebels. Der sich temporäre Projektionsgrund Nebel steht dabei für das ungreifbare Moment der Zeit und damit auch der Geschichte, und Erinnerung. So entwickelt Geist einen Dialog mit dem Ort und seiner künstlerischen Arbeit.

In der Sakristei wird Geist sein langfristiges Wasser - Projekt Riverine Zones ausstellen. Die Video-Raum-Installation ''Riverine Zones'' nimmt den Betrachter mit auf eine Entdeckungsreise durch internationale Flüsse. Der Künstler macht eine Welt sichtbar, die uns so nah und gleichzeitig doch so fern ist. Mit einer Unterwasser-Kamera streift er durch alle Zonen des Flusses: den Grund, das tiefe oder seichte Wasser und die Oberfläche. So entstehen Geists teils minimal-puristische, teils farbintensiven, traumartigen und schemenhaft-zerbrechlichen Bildkompositionen. Geist bezieht auch, aus der Wasserperspektive, das Ufergebiet mit ein, dessen englische Bezeichnung „riverine“ sogar Namensgeber des Projekts wurde.

einfache, aber ausgesetzte Gradkletterei entlang des Grates direkt über der Griesenaueralm

Das Gästehaus "Waltershausen" am Ortsrand von Oberhof ist durch seine Lage der ideale Ausgangspunkt für Ihre Entdeckungstouren in den Thüringer Wald und erlebnisreiche Ferien. Es bietet angemessen ausgestattete Zimmer und einen großen Speisesaal. Ein Wellnessbereich mit Saunabereich befindet sich im Untergeschoss. Wir garantieren einen Unvergesslichen Aufenthalt in unserem Hause. Als besonderes Angebot bieten wir ihnen unsere Präsidentensuite an, fragen Sie einfach an der Rezeption.

mehr dazu: frag-mich-doch.net/2013/04/10/allgemein/gaestehaus-walter...

Das Gästehaus "Waltershausen" am Ortsrand von Oberhof ist durch seine Lage der ideale Ausgangspunkt für Ihre Entdeckungstouren in den Thüringer Wald und erlebnisreiche Ferien. Es bietet angemessen ausgestattete Zimmer und einen großen Speisesaal. Ein Wellnessbereich mit Saunabereich befindet sich im Untergeschoss. Wir garantieren einen Unvergesslichen Aufenthalt in unserem Hause. Als besonderes Angebot bieten wir ihnen unsere Präsidentensuite an, fragen Sie einfach an der Rezeption.

mehr dazu: frag-mich-doch.net/2013/04/10/allgemein/gaestehaus-walter...

foto(s): Oliver Blum Film + Photography

www.oliverblum.com

550 km Oberwesel

Liquid Memory / Riverine Zones

Video-installations of Philipp Geist (Berlin), monastery gardens of family Hütte,

Monastery gardens and sacristy, Oberstr. 11

Fr 20-24h / Saturday 20-24h / Su 20-23h

The artist Philipp Geist (Berlin) shows his video installation „ Liquid Memory“ in the church ruins and in the sacristy of the former Minorite cloister in Oberwesel. In his installation Philipp Geist picks out the element water as a central theme and puts this in the immediate connection to the historical place and the Rhine Valley. Water and time are the constants in the oeuvre of Philipp Geist. He works with the media videoinstallation, audio/visual performance, painting and photography. His projects integrate space, sound and moving image.

With this installation, the artist renounces the use of canvases and projects directly onto parts of the former cloister facade, the ruins and onto fog as a transpartent and volatile projection-ground. An interaction between the concrete and tangible wall and the clear evaporating projection will bring together time and space.

Geist will exhibit his long term water-project ´Riverine Zones´ in the former sacristy. This video-space installation takes the viewer on an exploratory expedition through international rivers. The artist makes a world visible which is so near and yet so distant to us. With an underwater camera he roams through all zones of the river: the ground, the deep or shallow water and the surface. Thus originate Geist´s partly minimum-puristic, partly colour-intensive, dream-like and shadowy-breakable image compositions. Geist covers– from the water perspective– also the bank area, from which, using another English term -„riverine“- the project receives its name.

Profile:

Philipp Geist, born in 1976 in Witten, grown up in Weilheim (Bavaria), lives in Berlin since 1999. He works internationally in the media video installation, audio visual performances, painting and photography. Among others he has exhibited in 2002: Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. In 2004: Sonar Festival Barcelona, Mutek festival Montreal, Dissonanze festival, Rome. In 2005: Zurich, Winterzauber, video installation. In 2006: Salon Noir, New National Gallery Berlin. In 2007: Riverine video installation, Three Walls Gallery, Chicago; Video installation Time Lines Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome. In 2008: Kulturforum Berlin, Time Fades Australia Melbourne, Urban Screens– Riverine Movie Screening. In 2009: Geneva Palais Eynard, Parc des Bastions, Mapping festival…

www.kulturhaus-oberwesel.de

www.videogeist.de

www.p-geist.de

riverine.videogeist.de

------------------------

LIQUID MEMORY - PHILIPP GEIST

Outdoor - Video – Installation

in Oberwesel / Kulturstiftung Hütte

Luminale - Rheinpartie "auf zu neuen ufern"

02 – 04. Oktober 2009

Der Berliner Künstler Philipp Geist (1976) zeigt seine Videoinstallation 'LIQUID MEMORY' an der Klosterruine und in der Sakristei in Oberwesel (Oberes Mittelrheintal) im Zeitraum vom 01. - 04. Oktober 2009. In seiner Installation thematisiert Philipp Geist das Element Wasser und setzt dieses in den unmittelbaren Zusammenhang zu dem geschichtlichen Ort und dem Rheintal.

Wasser und Zeit sind die Konstanten im Werk von Philipp Geist. Der Künstler, Autodidakt arbeitet international in den Medien Videoinstallation, Audio/Visuelle Performance, Malerei und Fotografie. Seine Projekte sind in erster Linie gekennzeichnet durch ihre Integration von Raum, Ton und Bewegbild.

Bei der Installation verzichtet der Künstler auf den Einsatz von Leinwänden und projiziert direkt auf Teile der ehemaligen Klosterfassade, die Ruine und auf den transparenten, flüchtigen Projektionsgrund Nebel. Es entsteht ein Zusammenspiel zwischen der konkreten, greifbaren Wand und der transparenten, sich verflüchtigenden Projektionsfläche des Nebels. Der sich temporäre Projektionsgrund Nebel steht dabei für das ungreifbare Moment der Zeit und damit auch der Geschichte, und Erinnerung. So entwickelt Geist einen Dialog mit dem Ort und seiner künstlerischen Arbeit.

In der Sakristei wird Geist sein langfristiges Wasser - Projekt Riverine Zones ausstellen. Die Video-Raum-Installation ''Riverine Zones'' nimmt den Betrachter mit auf eine Entdeckungsreise durch internationale Flüsse. Der Künstler macht eine Welt sichtbar, die uns so nah und gleichzeitig doch so fern ist. Mit einer Unterwasser-Kamera streift er durch alle Zonen des Flusses: den Grund, das tiefe oder seichte Wasser und die Oberfläche. So entstehen Geists teils minimal-puristische, teils farbintensiven, traumartigen und schemenhaft-zerbrechlichen Bildkompositionen. Geist bezieht auch, aus der Wasserperspektive, das Ufergebiet mit ein, dessen englische Bezeichnung „riverine“ sogar Namensgeber des Projekts wurde.

foto(s): Oliver Blum Film + Photography

www.oliverblum.com

550 km Oberwesel

Liquid Memory / Riverine Zones

Video-installations of Philipp Geist (Berlin), monastery gardens of family Hütte,

Monastery gardens and sacristy, Oberstr. 11

Fr 20-24h / Saturday 20-24h / Su 20-23h

The artist Philipp Geist (Berlin) shows his video installation „ Liquid Memory“ in the church ruins and in the sacristy of the former Minorite cloister in Oberwesel. In his installation Philipp Geist picks out the element water as a central theme and puts this in the immediate connection to the historical place and the Rhine Valley. Water and time are the constants in the oeuvre of Philipp Geist. He works with the media videoinstallation, audio/visual performance, painting and photography. His projects integrate space, sound and moving image.

With this installation, the artist renounces the use of canvases and projects directly onto parts of the former cloister facade, the ruins and onto fog as a transpartent and volatile projection-ground. An interaction between the concrete and tangible wall and the clear evaporating projection will bring together time and space.

Geist will exhibit his long term water-project ´Riverine Zones´ in the former sacristy. This video-space installation takes the viewer on an exploratory expedition through international rivers. The artist makes a world visible which is so near and yet so distant to us. With an underwater camera he roams through all zones of the river: the ground, the deep or shallow water and the surface. Thus originate Geist´s partly minimum-puristic, partly colour-intensive, dream-like and shadowy-breakable image compositions. Geist covers– from the water perspective– also the bank area, from which, using another English term -„riverine“- the project receives its name.

Profile:

Philipp Geist, born in 1976 in Witten, grown up in Weilheim (Bavaria), lives in Berlin since 1999. He works internationally in the media video installation, audio visual performances, painting and photography. Among others he has exhibited in 2002: Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. In 2004: Sonar Festival Barcelona, Mutek festival Montreal, Dissonanze festival, Rome. In 2005: Zurich, Winterzauber, video installation. In 2006: Salon Noir, New National Gallery Berlin. In 2007: Riverine video installation, Three Walls Gallery, Chicago; Video installation Time Lines Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome. In 2008: Kulturforum Berlin, Time Fades Australia Melbourne, Urban Screens– Riverine Movie Screening. In 2009: Geneva Palais Eynard, Parc des Bastions, Mapping festival…

www.kulturhaus-oberwesel.de

www.videogeist.de

www.p-geist.de

riverine.videogeist.de

------------------------

LIQUID MEMORY - PHILIPP GEIST

Outdoor - Video – Installation

in Oberwesel / Kulturstiftung Hütte

Luminale - Rheinpartie "auf zu neuen ufern"

02 – 04. Oktober 2009

Der Berliner Künstler Philipp Geist (1976) zeigt seine Videoinstallation 'LIQUID MEMORY' an der Klosterruine und in der Sakristei in Oberwesel (Oberes Mittelrheintal) im Zeitraum vom 01. - 04. Oktober 2009. In seiner Installation thematisiert Philipp Geist das Element Wasser und setzt dieses in den unmittelbaren Zusammenhang zu dem geschichtlichen Ort und dem Rheintal.

Wasser und Zeit sind die Konstanten im Werk von Philipp Geist. Der Künstler, Autodidakt arbeitet international in den Medien Videoinstallation, Audio/Visuelle Performance, Malerei und Fotografie. Seine Projekte sind in erster Linie gekennzeichnet durch ihre Integration von Raum, Ton und Bewegbild.

Bei der Installation verzichtet der Künstler auf den Einsatz von Leinwänden und projiziert direkt auf Teile der ehemaligen Klosterfassade, die Ruine und auf den transparenten, flüchtigen Projektionsgrund Nebel. Es entsteht ein Zusammenspiel zwischen der konkreten, greifbaren Wand und der transparenten, sich verflüchtigenden Projektionsfläche des Nebels. Der sich temporäre Projektionsgrund Nebel steht dabei für das ungreifbare Moment der Zeit und damit auch der Geschichte, und Erinnerung. So entwickelt Geist einen Dialog mit dem Ort und seiner künstlerischen Arbeit.

In der Sakristei wird Geist sein langfristiges Wasser - Projekt Riverine Zones ausstellen. Die Video-Raum-Installation ''Riverine Zones'' nimmt den Betrachter mit auf eine Entdeckungsreise durch internationale Flüsse. Der Künstler macht eine Welt sichtbar, die uns so nah und gleichzeitig doch so fern ist. Mit einer Unterwasser-Kamera streift er durch alle Zonen des Flusses: den Grund, das tiefe oder seichte Wasser und die Oberfläche. So entstehen Geists teils minimal-puristische, teils farbintensiven, traumartigen und schemenhaft-zerbrechlichen Bildkompositionen. Geist bezieht auch, aus der Wasserperspektive, das Ufergebiet mit ein, dessen englische Bezeichnung „riverine“ sogar Namensgeber des Projekts wurde.

foto(s): Oliver Blum Film + Photography

www.oliverblum.com

550 km Oberwesel

Liquid Memory / Riverine Zones

Video-installations of Philipp Geist (Berlin), monastery gardens of family Hütte,

Monastery gardens and sacristy, Oberstr. 11

Fr 20-24h / Saturday 20-24h / Su 20-23h

The artist Philipp Geist (Berlin) shows his video installation „ Liquid Memory“ in the church ruins and in the sacristy of the former Minorite cloister in Oberwesel. In his installation Philipp Geist picks out the element water as a central theme and puts this in the immediate connection to the historical place and the Rhine Valley. Water and time are the constants in the oeuvre of Philipp Geist. He works with the media videoinstallation, audio/visual performance, painting and photography. His projects integrate space, sound and moving image.

With this installation, the artist renounces the use of canvases and projects directly onto parts of the former cloister facade, the ruins and onto fog as a transpartent and volatile projection-ground. An interaction between the concrete and tangible wall and the clear evaporating projection will bring together time and space.

Geist will exhibit his long term water-project ´Riverine Zones´ in the former sacristy. This video-space installation takes the viewer on an exploratory expedition through international rivers. The artist makes a world visible which is so near and yet so distant to us. With an underwater camera he roams through all zones of the river: the ground, the deep or shallow water and the surface. Thus originate Geist´s partly minimum-puristic, partly colour-intensive, dream-like and shadowy-breakable image compositions. Geist covers– from the water perspective– also the bank area, from which, using another English term -„riverine“- the project receives its name.

Profile:

Philipp Geist, born in 1976 in Witten, grown up in Weilheim (Bavaria), lives in Berlin since 1999. He works internationally in the media video installation, audio visual performances, painting and photography. Among others he has exhibited in 2002: Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. In 2004: Sonar Festival Barcelona, Mutek festival Montreal, Dissonanze festival, Rome. In 2005: Zurich, Winterzauber, video installation. In 2006: Salon Noir, New National Gallery Berlin. In 2007: Riverine video installation, Three Walls Gallery, Chicago; Video installation Time Lines Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome. In 2008: Kulturforum Berlin, Time Fades Australia Melbourne, Urban Screens– Riverine Movie Screening. In 2009: Geneva Palais Eynard, Parc des Bastions, Mapping festival…

www.kulturhaus-oberwesel.de

www.videogeist.de

www.p-geist.de

riverine.videogeist.de

------------------------

LIQUID MEMORY - PHILIPP GEIST

Outdoor - Video – Installation

in Oberwesel / Kulturstiftung Hütte

Luminale - Rheinpartie "auf zu neuen ufern"

02 – 04. Oktober 2009

Der Berliner Künstler Philipp Geist (1976) zeigt seine Videoinstallation 'LIQUID MEMORY' an der Klosterruine und in der Sakristei in Oberwesel (Oberes Mittelrheintal) im Zeitraum vom 01. - 04. Oktober 2009. In seiner Installation thematisiert Philipp Geist das Element Wasser und setzt dieses in den unmittelbaren Zusammenhang zu dem geschichtlichen Ort und dem Rheintal.

Wasser und Zeit sind die Konstanten im Werk von Philipp Geist. Der Künstler, Autodidakt arbeitet international in den Medien Videoinstallation, Audio/Visuelle Performance, Malerei und Fotografie. Seine Projekte sind in erster Linie gekennzeichnet durch ihre Integration von Raum, Ton und Bewegbild.

Bei der Installation verzichtet der Künstler auf den Einsatz von Leinwänden und projiziert direkt auf Teile der ehemaligen Klosterfassade, die Ruine und auf den transparenten, flüchtigen Projektionsgrund Nebel. Es entsteht ein Zusammenspiel zwischen der konkreten, greifbaren Wand und der transparenten, sich verflüchtigenden Projektionsfläche des Nebels. Der sich temporäre Projektionsgrund Nebel steht dabei für das ungreifbare Moment der Zeit und damit auch der Geschichte, und Erinnerung. So entwickelt Geist einen Dialog mit dem Ort und seiner künstlerischen Arbeit.

In der Sakristei wird Geist sein langfristiges Wasser - Projekt Riverine Zones ausstellen. Die Video-Raum-Installation ''Riverine Zones'' nimmt den Betrachter mit auf eine Entdeckungsreise durch internationale Flüsse. Der Künstler macht eine Welt sichtbar, die uns so nah und gleichzeitig doch so fern ist. Mit einer Unterwasser-Kamera streift er durch alle Zonen des Flusses: den Grund, das tiefe oder seichte Wasser und die Oberfläche. So entstehen Geists teils minimal-puristische, teils farbintensiven, traumartigen und schemenhaft-zerbrechlichen Bildkompositionen. Geist bezieht auch, aus der Wasserperspektive, das Ufergebiet mit ein, dessen englische Bezeichnung „riverine“ sogar Namensgeber des Projekts wurde.

Das Gästehaus "Waltershausen" am Ortsrand von Oberhof ist durch seine Lage der ideale Ausgangspunkt für Ihre Entdeckungstouren in den Thüringer Wald und erlebnisreiche Ferien. Es bietet angemessen ausgestattete Zimmer und einen großen Speisesaal. Ein Wellnessbereich mit Saunabereich befindet sich im Untergeschoss. Wir garantieren einen Unvergesslichen Aufenthalt in unserem Hause. Als besonderes Angebot bieten wir ihnen unsere Präsidentensuite an, fragen Sie einfach an der Rezeption.

mehr dazu: frag-mich-doch.net/2013/04/10/allgemein/gaestehaus-walter...

foto(s): Oliver Blum Film + Photography

www.oliverblum.com

550 km Oberwesel

Liquid Memory / Riverine Zones

Video-installations of Philipp Geist (Berlin), monastery gardens of family Hütte,

Monastery gardens and sacristy, Oberstr. 11

Fr 20-24h / Saturday 20-24h / Su 20-23h

The artist Philipp Geist (Berlin) shows his video installation „ Liquid Memory“ in the church ruins and in the sacristy of the former Minorite cloister in Oberwesel. In his installation Philipp Geist picks out the element water as a central theme and puts this in the immediate connection to the historical place and the Rhine Valley. Water and time are the constants in the oeuvre of Philipp Geist. He works with the media videoinstallation, audio/visual performance, painting and photography. His projects integrate space, sound and moving image.

With this installation, the artist renounces the use of canvases and projects directly onto parts of the former cloister facade, the ruins and onto fog as a transpartent and volatile projection-ground. An interaction between the concrete and tangible wall and the clear evaporating projection will bring together time and space.

Geist will exhibit his long term water-project ´Riverine Zones´ in the former sacristy. This video-space installation takes the viewer on an exploratory expedition through international rivers. The artist makes a world visible which is so near and yet so distant to us. With an underwater camera he roams through all zones of the river: the ground, the deep or shallow water and the surface. Thus originate Geist´s partly minimum-puristic, partly colour-intensive, dream-like and shadowy-breakable image compositions. Geist covers– from the water perspective– also the bank area, from which, using another English term -„riverine“- the project receives its name.

Profile:

Philipp Geist, born in 1976 in Witten, grown up in Weilheim (Bavaria), lives in Berlin since 1999. He works internationally in the media video installation, audio visual performances, painting and photography. Among others he has exhibited in 2002: Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. In 2004: Sonar Festival Barcelona, Mutek festival Montreal, Dissonanze festival, Rome. In 2005: Zurich, Winterzauber, video installation. In 2006: Salon Noir, New National Gallery Berlin. In 2007: Riverine video installation, Three Walls Gallery, Chicago; Video installation Time Lines Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome. In 2008: Kulturforum Berlin, Time Fades Australia Melbourne, Urban Screens– Riverine Movie Screening. In 2009: Geneva Palais Eynard, Parc des Bastions, Mapping festival…

www.kulturhaus-oberwesel.de

www.videogeist.de

www.p-geist.de

riverine.videogeist.de

------------------------

LIQUID MEMORY - PHILIPP GEIST

Outdoor - Video – Installation

in Oberwesel / Kulturstiftung Hütte

Luminale - Rheinpartie "auf zu neuen ufern"

02 – 04. Oktober 2009

Der Berliner Künstler Philipp Geist (1976) zeigt seine Videoinstallation 'LIQUID MEMORY' an der Klosterruine und in der Sakristei in Oberwesel (Oberes Mittelrheintal) im Zeitraum vom 01. - 04. Oktober 2009. In seiner Installation thematisiert Philipp Geist das Element Wasser und setzt dieses in den unmittelbaren Zusammenhang zu dem geschichtlichen Ort und dem Rheintal.

Wasser und Zeit sind die Konstanten im Werk von Philipp Geist. Der Künstler, Autodidakt arbeitet international in den Medien Videoinstallation, Audio/Visuelle Performance, Malerei und Fotografie. Seine Projekte sind in erster Linie gekennzeichnet durch ihre Integration von Raum, Ton und Bewegbild.

Bei der Installation verzichtet der Künstler auf den Einsatz von Leinwänden und projiziert direkt auf Teile der ehemaligen Klosterfassade, die Ruine und auf den transparenten, flüchtigen Projektionsgrund Nebel. Es entsteht ein Zusammenspiel zwischen der konkreten, greifbaren Wand und der transparenten, sich verflüchtigenden Projektionsfläche des Nebels. Der sich temporäre Projektionsgrund Nebel steht dabei für das ungreifbare Moment der Zeit und damit auch der Geschichte, und Erinnerung. So entwickelt Geist einen Dialog mit dem Ort und seiner künstlerischen Arbeit.

In der Sakristei wird Geist sein langfristiges Wasser - Projekt Riverine Zones ausstellen. Die Video-Raum-Installation ''Riverine Zones'' nimmt den Betrachter mit auf eine Entdeckungsreise durch internationale Flüsse. Der Künstler macht eine Welt sichtbar, die uns so nah und gleichzeitig doch so fern ist. Mit einer Unterwasser-Kamera streift er durch alle Zonen des Flusses: den Grund, das tiefe oder seichte Wasser und die Oberfläche. So entstehen Geists teils minimal-puristische, teils farbintensiven, traumartigen und schemenhaft-zerbrechlichen Bildkompositionen. Geist bezieht auch, aus der Wasserperspektive, das Ufergebiet mit ein, dessen englische Bezeichnung „riverine“ sogar Namensgeber des Projekts wurde.

Das Gästehaus "Waltershausen" am Ortsrand von Oberhof ist durch seine Lage der ideale Ausgangspunkt für Ihre Entdeckungstouren in den Thüringer Wald und erlebnisreiche Ferien. Es bietet angemessen ausgestattete Zimmer und einen großen Speisesaal. Ein Wellnessbereich mit Saunabereich befindet sich im Untergeschoss. Wir garantieren einen Unvergesslichen Aufenthalt in unserem Hause. Als besonderes Angebot bieten wir ihnen unsere Präsidentensuite an, fragen Sie einfach an der Rezeption.

mehr dazu: frag-mich-doch.net/2013/04/10/allgemein/gaestehaus-walter...

foto(s): Oliver Blum Film + Photography

www.oliverblum.com

550 km Oberwesel

Liquid Memory / Riverine Zones

Video-installations of Philipp Geist (Berlin), monastery gardens of family Hütte,

Monastery gardens and sacristy, Oberstr. 11

Fr 20-24h / Saturday 20-24h / Su 20-23h

The artist Philipp Geist (Berlin) shows his video installation „ Liquid Memory“ in the church ruins and in the sacristy of the former Minorite cloister in Oberwesel. In his installation Philipp Geist picks out the element water as a central theme and puts this in the immediate connection to the historical place and the Rhine Valley. Water and time are the constants in the oeuvre of Philipp Geist. He works with the media videoinstallation, audio/visual performance, painting and photography. His projects integrate space, sound and moving image.

With this installation, the artist renounces the use of canvases and projects directly onto parts of the former cloister facade, the ruins and onto fog as a transpartent and volatile projection-ground. An interaction between the concrete and tangible wall and the clear evaporating projection will bring together time and space.

Geist will exhibit his long term water-project ´Riverine Zones´ in the former sacristy. This video-space installation takes the viewer on an exploratory expedition through international rivers. The artist makes a world visible which is so near and yet so distant to us. With an underwater camera he roams through all zones of the river: the ground, the deep or shallow water and the surface. Thus originate Geist´s partly minimum-puristic, partly colour-intensive, dream-like and shadowy-breakable image compositions. Geist covers– from the water perspective– also the bank area, from which, using another English term -„riverine“- the project receives its name.

Profile:

Philipp Geist, born in 1976 in Witten, grown up in Weilheim (Bavaria), lives in Berlin since 1999. He works internationally in the media video installation, audio visual performances, painting and photography. Among others he has exhibited in 2002: Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. In 2004: Sonar Festival Barcelona, Mutek festival Montreal, Dissonanze festival, Rome. In 2005: Zurich, Winterzauber, video installation. In 2006: Salon Noir, New National Gallery Berlin. In 2007: Riverine video installation, Three Walls Gallery, Chicago; Video installation Time Lines Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome. In 2008: Kulturforum Berlin, Time Fades Australia Melbourne, Urban Screens– Riverine Movie Screening. In 2009: Geneva Palais Eynard, Parc des Bastions, Mapping festival…

www.kulturhaus-oberwesel.de

www.videogeist.de

www.p-geist.de

riverine.videogeist.de

------------------------

LIQUID MEMORY - PHILIPP GEIST

Outdoor - Video – Installation

in Oberwesel / Kulturstiftung Hütte

Luminale - Rheinpartie "auf zu neuen ufern"

02 – 04. Oktober 2009

Der Berliner Künstler Philipp Geist (1976) zeigt seine Videoinstallation 'LIQUID MEMORY' an der Klosterruine und in der Sakristei in Oberwesel (Oberes Mittelrheintal) im Zeitraum vom 01. - 04. Oktober 2009. In seiner Installation thematisiert Philipp Geist das Element Wasser und setzt dieses in den unmittelbaren Zusammenhang zu dem geschichtlichen Ort und dem Rheintal.

Wasser und Zeit sind die Konstanten im Werk von Philipp Geist. Der Künstler, Autodidakt arbeitet international in den Medien Videoinstallation, Audio/Visuelle Performance, Malerei und Fotografie. Seine Projekte sind in erster Linie gekennzeichnet durch ihre Integration von Raum, Ton und Bewegbild.

Bei der Installation verzichtet der Künstler auf den Einsatz von Leinwänden und projiziert direkt auf Teile der ehemaligen Klosterfassade, die Ruine und auf den transparenten, flüchtigen Projektionsgrund Nebel. Es entsteht ein Zusammenspiel zwischen der konkreten, greifbaren Wand und der transparenten, sich verflüchtigenden Projektionsfläche des Nebels. Der sich temporäre Projektionsgrund Nebel steht dabei für das ungreifbare Moment der Zeit und damit auch der Geschichte, und Erinnerung. So entwickelt Geist einen Dialog mit dem Ort und seiner künstlerischen Arbeit.

In der Sakristei wird Geist sein langfristiges Wasser - Projekt Riverine Zones ausstellen. Die Video-Raum-Installation ''Riverine Zones'' nimmt den Betrachter mit auf eine Entdeckungsreise durch internationale Flüsse. Der Künstler macht eine Welt sichtbar, die uns so nah und gleichzeitig doch so fern ist. Mit einer Unterwasser-Kamera streift er durch alle Zonen des Flusses: den Grund, das tiefe oder seichte Wasser und die Oberfläche. So entstehen Geists teils minimal-puristische, teils farbintensiven, traumartigen und schemenhaft-zerbrechlichen Bildkompositionen. Geist bezieht auch, aus der Wasserperspektive, das Ufergebiet mit ein, dessen englische Bezeichnung „riverine“ sogar Namensgeber des Projekts wurde.

foto(s): Oliver Blum Film + Photography

www.oliverblum.com

550 km Oberwesel

Liquid Memory / Riverine Zones

Video-installations of Philipp Geist (Berlin), monastery gardens of family Hütte,

Monastery gardens and sacristy, Oberstr. 11

Fr 20-24h / Saturday 20-24h / Su 20-23h

The artist Philipp Geist (Berlin) shows his video installation „ Liquid Memory“ in the church ruins and in the sacristy of the former Minorite cloister in Oberwesel. In his installation Philipp Geist picks out the element water as a central theme and puts this in the immediate connection to the historical place and the Rhine Valley. Water and time are the constants in the oeuvre of Philipp Geist. He works with the media videoinstallation, audio/visual performance, painting and photography. His projects integrate space, sound and moving image.

With this installation, the artist renounces the use of canvases and projects directly onto parts of the former cloister facade, the ruins and onto fog as a transpartent and volatile projection-ground. An interaction between the concrete and tangible wall and the clear evaporating projection will bring together time and space.

Geist will exhibit his long term water-project ´Riverine Zones´ in the former sacristy. This video-space installation takes the viewer on an exploratory expedition through international rivers. The artist makes a world visible which is so near and yet so distant to us. With an underwater camera he roams through all zones of the river: the ground, the deep or shallow water and the surface. Thus originate Geist´s partly minimum-puristic, partly colour-intensive, dream-like and shadowy-breakable image compositions. Geist covers– from the water perspective– also the bank area, from which, using another English term -„riverine“- the project receives its name.

Profile:

Philipp Geist, born in 1976 in Witten, grown up in Weilheim (Bavaria), lives in Berlin since 1999. He works internationally in the media video installation, audio visual performances, painting and photography. Among others he has exhibited in 2002: Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. In 2004: Sonar Festival Barcelona, Mutek festival Montreal, Dissonanze festival, Rome. In 2005: Zurich, Winterzauber, video installation. In 2006: Salon Noir, New National Gallery Berlin. In 2007: Riverine video installation, Three Walls Gallery, Chicago; Video installation Time Lines Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome. In 2008: Kulturforum Berlin, Time Fades Australia Melbourne, Urban Screens– Riverine Movie Screening. In 2009: Geneva Palais Eynard, Parc des Bastions, Mapping festival…

www.kulturhaus-oberwesel.de

www.videogeist.de

www.p-geist.de

riverine.videogeist.de

------------------------

LIQUID MEMORY - PHILIPP GEIST

Outdoor - Video – Installation

in Oberwesel / Kulturstiftung Hütte

Luminale - Rheinpartie "auf zu neuen ufern"

02 – 04. Oktober 2009

Der Berliner Künstler Philipp Geist (1976) zeigt seine Videoinstallation 'LIQUID MEMORY' an der Klosterruine und in der Sakristei in Oberwesel (Oberes Mittelrheintal) im Zeitraum vom 01. - 04. Oktober 2009. In seiner Installation thematisiert Philipp Geist das Element Wasser und setzt dieses in den unmittelbaren Zusammenhang zu dem geschichtlichen Ort und dem Rheintal.

Wasser und Zeit sind die Konstanten im Werk von Philipp Geist. Der Künstler, Autodidakt arbeitet international in den Medien Videoinstallation, Audio/Visuelle Performance, Malerei und Fotografie. Seine Projekte sind in erster Linie gekennzeichnet durch ihre Integration von Raum, Ton und Bewegbild.

Bei der Installation verzichtet der Künstler auf den Einsatz von Leinwänden und projiziert direkt auf Teile der ehemaligen Klosterfassade, die Ruine und auf den transparenten, flüchtigen Projektionsgrund Nebel. Es entsteht ein Zusammenspiel zwischen der konkreten, greifbaren Wand und der transparenten, sich verflüchtigenden Projektionsfläche des Nebels. Der sich temporäre Projektionsgrund Nebel steht dabei für das ungreifbare Moment der Zeit und damit auch der Geschichte, und Erinnerung. So entwickelt Geist einen Dialog mit dem Ort und seiner künstlerischen Arbeit.

In der Sakristei wird Geist sein langfristiges Wasser - Projekt Riverine Zones ausstellen. Die Video-Raum-Installation ''Riverine Zones'' nimmt den Betrachter mit auf eine Entdeckungsreise durch internationale Flüsse. Der Künstler macht eine Welt sichtbar, die uns so nah und gleichzeitig doch so fern ist. Mit einer Unterwasser-Kamera streift er durch alle Zonen des Flusses: den Grund, das tiefe oder seichte Wasser und die Oberfläche. So entstehen Geists teils minimal-puristische, teils farbintensiven, traumartigen und schemenhaft-zerbrechlichen Bildkompositionen. Geist bezieht auch, aus der Wasserperspektive, das Ufergebiet mit ein, dessen englische Bezeichnung „riverine“ sogar Namensgeber des Projekts wurde.

Entdeckungsreise // Klosterruine Eldena // Greifswald // Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

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