Vitudurum (sometimes Vitodorum) is the name of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus r ...

'', those remains are located in

Oberwinterthur Oberwinterthur is a district in the Swiss city of Winterthur. It is district number 2. The district comprises the quarters Talacker, Guggenbühl, Zinzikon, Reutlingen, Stadel, Grüze, Hegmatten and Hegi. Oberwinterthur was formerly a munic ...

, a locality of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Winterthur , neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell , twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria), La ...

in the

canton of Zürich The canton of Zürich (german: Kanton Zürich ; rm, Chantun Turitg; french: Canton de Zurich; it, Canton Zurigo) is a Swiss canton in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton in the ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Geography

The majority of the remains of commercial, residential, religious and public buildings are situated in

, a locality of the

, around the St. Arbogast church, at Unterer Bühl, Kastellweg and Bätmur Flur.

Location

Vitudurum was established nearby productive resources and a prehistorican route from

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial lak ...

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

(''Arbor Felix, Brigantium'') in the late first century BC or early first century AD. It was located at the probably route leading to the north ( Ad Fines, Tasgetium), presumably also towards

Turicum Turicum was a Gallo-Roman settlement at the lower end of Lake Zurich, and precursor of the city of Zürich. It was situated within the Roman province of Gallia Belgica (from AD 90 Germania Superior) and near the border to the province of Raetia; ...

, and towards the

Irgenhausen Castrum Irgenhausen Castrum is a Roman fort at Irgenhausen, situated on Pfäffikersee lake shore in Switzerland. It was a square fort, measuring in square, with four corner towers and three additional towers. The remains of a stone wall in the interior ...

and

Centum Prata Centum Prata is the name of a Roman ''vicus'', whose remains are located on the eastern Zürichsee lakeshore in Kempraten, a locality of the municipality Rapperswil-Jona in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Centum Prata is the most importa ...

(

Kempraten Kempraten-Lenggis is a village (''Kirchdorf'') within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona, ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The remains of the Gallo-Roman settlement ''Centum Prata'' are one ...

), and on the water transport route Obersee–

Linth The Linth (pronounced "lint") is a Swiss river that rises near the village of Linthal in the mountains of the canton of Glarus, and eventually flows into the Obersee section of Lake Zurich. It is about in length. The water power of the Linth ...

–

Walensee The Walensee, also known as ''Lake Walen'' or ''Lake Walenstadt'' from Walenstadt, is one of the larger lakes in Switzerland, with about two thirds of its area in the Canton of St. Gallen and about one third in the Canton of Glarus. Other towns an ...

on the

Gotthard Pass german: Gotthardpass , photo = File:Gotthardpass 2008.jpg , photo_caption = The area of the Gotthard Pass from the west , elevation_m = 2106 , elevation_ref = , traversed = National Road 2 Old paved road ( Tremola) Gotthard Rail Tunnel Go ...

route towards the Roman heartland in Italy.

History

The Roman timber buildings were

dendrochronologically Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

dated around 4 BC. In AD 7 the Romans rebuilt the passageway in the Oberwinterthur area into a road. Starting from the village's center on the church hill ( St. Arbogast) at the beginning of the 1st century AD, a street village stretched at a length of about having several ''

insulae The Latin word ''insula'' (literally meaning "island", plural ''insulae'') was used in Roman cities to mean either a city block in a city plan, i.e. a building area surrounded by four streets, or, later, a type of apartment building that occup ...

''. The open settlement had its flowering time in the 1st and 2nd centuries. During the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

invasion, the ''

'' was replaced respectively fortified by a ''

castrum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a po ...

'' (fort) on the present St. Arbogast church hill, surrounded by a wall. The date of the construction of the fortification around 294 AD is documented by its inscription stone. At the same place the predecessor building of the St. Arbogast church was erected in the 6th/7th century.

Buildings and infrastructure

A masonry temple in the center was built in the 1st to 2nd century, surrounded by a sacred precinct, the

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

, three houses and a building of public character, and on the opposite side other larger stone buildings. To the south east, a residential and commercial district were situated at ''Unterer Bühl'', which consisted entirely of wooden houses or clay-

half-timbered Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

structures. There were found organic materials in a very good condition: besides basket fragments, scrap leather and wooden objects, also a threshold beam and other parts of the house structures. About a wooden spring capture and wooden (so-called ''Teuchel'') fresh water pipes were conducted in different houses. Elaborately constructed and parcarefully covered wooden channels were used for sanitation. Comparable with the southwestern area, two rows of houses stretched towards the north-east. North of the church hill (''Kastellweg'') there were on more residential and farm buildings made of wood, but also one of stone, fresh water pipes and sewers and latrines, established in the 1st to the 3rd century AD. Fire hazard exposed buildings and imissionary trades were situated at the edges of settlement in the west and east: in the 1st and 2nd centuries at least 14

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

s and

tanneries Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

in the southwest and northeast. Individual staves of six vats, embedded in the floor of the tannery date back in the 1st century, and show bear stamp and graffiti. The numerous single finds, mostly from the 1st century, include wooden writing tablets with inscriptions, pottery fragments and a pair of shoe bars.

Archaeological exploration

After the first excavations in 1841 and 1853, soundings at the location of the ''castrum'' at the St. Arbogast church and in the immediate vicinity have been done in 1934. On occasion of the rebuilding of the parish house Oberwinterthur, a rescue excavation was carried out from 1949 to 1951. In 1957/59 followed excavations and research and in 1960 further excavations. On the Roman road on the northeastern end of the ''Vicus'' excavations were carried out in 1967/69, and in 1976 at the St. Arbogast church, and from 1977 to 1982 on the lower western district (''Unterer Bühl'') of the settlement. Between 1979 and 2010 all construction projects were monitored in the area of the Roman Vicus, and over 50 rescue excavations were carried out; especially in 2002 at ''Bätmur Flur'' the aerchologists explored an early to high medieval settlement area (7th to 12th century AD), and from 2006 to 2009 at ''Kastellweg''. In the area of the Vicus settlement remains of the European

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

, the early and late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

and grave remains of the

Middle Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

and the early

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

were uncovered. Rescue excavations were executed in late summer 2015, discovering the foundation holes of seven pit-houses from the 6th century in ''Hegmatten''. Individual finds include glass beads and knife blades, but also various Roman coins, two Roman finger rings and parts of several Roman

fibulae The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

. The excavations of 2015 were continued in spring 2016.

Name and inscription stone

The name Vitudurum, evidenced by the Latin inscription on the foundation stone of the castle in the former Roman province

Germania Superior Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesontio' ...

dating in 294 AD: :'' P''(erator) ''CAES''(ar) ''G''(aius) ''AURE''(lius) ''VAL''(erius) ''DIOCLETIAN''[''US PONT''(ifex) ''MAX''(imus) ''GER''(manicus) ''MAX''(imus) :''SAR''(maticus) ''MAX''(imus) ''PERS''(icus) ''MAX''(imus) ''TRIB''(unicia) ''POT''(estate) ''XI IM''[''P''(erator)''x'' ''CO''(n)''S''(ul) ''V P''(ater) ''P''(atriae) ''PROCO''(n)''S''(ul) ''ET'' :''IMP''(erator) ''CAES''(ar) ''M''(arcus) ''AUR''(elius) ''VAL''(erius) ''MAXIMIA''[''N''(us) ''PONT''(ifex) ''MAX''(imus) ''GER''(manicus) ''MAX''(imus) ''SAR''(maticus) :''MAX''(imus) ''PERS''(icus) ''MA''[''X''(imus) ''TRIB''(unicia) ''POT''(estate) ''X IMP''(erator) ''VIIII CO''[(n)''S''(ul) ''IIII P''(ater) ''P''(atriae) ''PROCO''(n)''S''(ul) ''P''(ii) ''F''(elices) ''INV''(icti) ''AUG''(usti) :''ET VAL''(erius) ''CONS''[T]''ANTIU ET GAL''(erius) ''VAL''(erius) [''MAXSIMIANUS NOBILISS''(imi) ''CA'']''ES''(are)''S MURUM VITUDURENSEM A S''[''OLO''] ''SUMPTU SUO FECER''(unt) :''AURELIO PROCULO V''(iro) ''P''(erfectissimo) ''PR'' 'AES''(ide) ''PROV''(inciae) ''CURANTE''The Latin capitals of the shortend original inscriptions are completed by minuscules, now meaning literally: :The Emperor Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletian, the greatest German conqueror, the greatest

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples of classical ant ...

conqueror, the greatest Persian conqueror, proclaimed in the 11th year of his tribunician power, for the tenth time as the chamption, Consul for the fifth time, father of the fatherland, the prokonsul, the pious, happy, victorious emperor, and Valerius Constantius and Galerius Valerius Maximianus, the illustrious reign of the Emperor have, have been built the fort wall of Vitudurum from scratch at their expense under the supervision of Aurelius Proculus, the highly respected provincial governor.Helmut Maurer: ''Konstanz im Mittelalter: 1. Von den Anfängen bis zum Konzil''. Stadler, Konstanz, 1989, p. 71. The inscription stone is exhibited in the old city of Winterthur at the Rathaus Winterthur.

Heritage site of national significance

The area of the remains of the ''Vicus Vitudurm'' ist listed in the

Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...

as ''Class A'' object of national importance. Hence, the area is provided as a historical site under federal protection, within the meaning of the Swiss Federal Act on the nature and cultural heritage (German: Bundesgesetz über den Natur- und Heimatschutz NHG) of 1 July 1966. Unauthorised researching and purposeful gathering of findings represent a criminal offense according to Art. 24.

Namesake

* Asteroid 398045 Vitudurum

Literature

* Jürg E. Schneider, Walter Ulrich Guyan, Andreas Zürcher: ''

, Vitudurum, Iuliomagus = Zürich, Winterthur und Schleitheim: drei römische Siedlungen in der Ostschweiz''. Ergänzte Sonderauflage, Werd-Verlag, Zürich 1988, . * ''Vitudurum. Beiträge zum römischen Oberwinterthur'', Volumes 1–9, published by Kantonsarchäologie Zürich, 1984–2001. * Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte (Publisher), SPM V. Römische Zeit (2002) p. 403–404.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Winterthur History of Zürich Archaeological sites in Switzerland Roman towns and cities in Switzerland Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Zürich