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Turicum was a
Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...
settlement at the lower end of
Lake Zurich Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...
, and precursor of the city of
Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
. It was situated within the Roman province of
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 ('' Vesont ...
) and near the border to the province of
Raetia Raetia or Rhaetia ( , ) was a province of the Roman Empire named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with Transalpine ...
; there was a tax-collecting point for goods traffic on the waterway
Walensee Lake Walen, also known as Lake Walenstadt or (), is one of the larger lakes in Switzerland. Located in the east of the country, about two thirds of its area are in the canton of St. Gallen and about one third in the canton of Glarus. Its na ...
Obersee-Zürichsee
Limmat The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of Lake Zurich, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, continuing a further 35 km until it reaches the river A ...
Aare The Aare () or Aar () is the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to i ...
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
.


Prehistory and Celtic Oppidum Lindenhof

Neolithic pile dwellings were located in the then swamp area between Limmat and
Lake Zurich Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...
around the present Sechseläutenplatz plaza. These were built on piles to protect the inhabitants against occasional flooding by the rivers
Sihl The Sihl is a Switzerland, Swiss river that rises near the Druesberg mountain in the canton of Schwyz, and eventually flows into the Limmat in the centre of the Zürich, city of Zürich, after crossing the Zürich–Winterthur railway at . It has ...
,
Linth The Linth (pronounced "lint") is a Switzerland, Swiss river that rises near the Linthal, Glarus, village of Linthal in the mountains of the cantons of Switzerland, canton of canton of Glarus, Glarus, and eventually flows into the Obersee (Züri ...
and Jona. Three settlements were located in Enge, a locality of the
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
of Zurich: Zürich–Enge Alpenquai and Kleiner Hafner on then islands or peninsulas on the effluence of the Limmat, and Grosser Hafner,Beat Eberschweiler: ''Schädelreste, Kopeken und Radar: Vielfältige Aufgaben für die Zürcher Tauchequipe IV''. In: NAU 8/2001. Amt für Städtebau der Stadt Zürich, Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Unterwasserarchäologie / Labor für Dendrochronologie. Zürich 2001. as well as the settlement '' Kleiner Hafner'' near the present Sechseläutenplatz plaza on the effluence of the Limmat on Lake Zurich lake shore, all within an area of about some away of the core of the Celtic ''Oppidum'' respectively the Roman era ''Vicus''. Probably in the first 1st century BC or even much earlier, the Celts settled on and around the Lindenhof hill. For the 1st century BC
La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a Iron Age Europe, European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman Republic, Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age ...
, archaeologists excavated individual and aerial finds of the Celtic ''
Oppidum An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...
'' whose remains were discovered in archaeological campaigns in the years 1989, 1997, 2004 and 2007, and also the 1900s and 1930s finds which mistakenly were identified as Roman objects. Extraordinary are the single finds of 1890 at the Prehistoric pile dwelling settlement '' Alpenquai'' – the so-called ''
Potin Potin is a base metal alloy used in coins. It is typically a mixture of copper, tin and lead (in varying proportions) and does not typically contain significant precious metals. Potin is usually used in reference to Celtic coinage. In Celtic co ...
lumps'' whose largest weights consist of about 18,000 of used Celtic coins which date to around 100 BC. Initially prejudged just as ''melt coins'', the present scientific research assumes that the melting down of the lump was not completed, therefore the aim was to form cultic offerings. The site of the find was at that time around from the present Bürkliplatz plaza in the Lake Zurich. '' Grosser Hafner'' was also an island sanctuary of the
Helvetii The Helvetii (, , Gaulish: *''Heluētī''), anglicized as Helvetians, were a Celtic tribe or tribal confederation occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. According to Ju ...
in connection with the settlement at the preceding Oppidi Uetliberg and Lindenhof.


Geography and area of the Roman settlement

The core of the Helvetic and Roman settlement was the
Lindenhof hill The Lindenhof (''"Tilia, linden yard"'') is a moraine hill and public square in the historic center of Zurich, Switzerland. It is the site of the Switzerland in the Roman era, Roman and Carolingian era Kaiserpfalz around which the city has histor ...
in the present ''Altstadt'' of the modern city of Zurich. The
moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...
hill was the site of the prehistoric settlements where the modern city has developed. The hilltop area dominates the city of Zurich alongside the eastern Limmat riverbank, and its northern slope called '' Sihlbühl'' towards the former
Sihl The Sihl is a Switzerland, Swiss river that rises near the Druesberg mountain in the canton of Schwyz, and eventually flows into the Limmat in the centre of the Zürich, city of Zürich, after crossing the Zürich–Winterthur railway at . It has ...
delta marked the northern boundary of the Helvetic and Roman settlement – where the structures of the medieval Oetenbach Nunnery, Waisenhaus Zürich and later the Urania Sternwarte were erected at the present ''Uraniastrasse'', and therefore important historical archaeological excavations never were done. To the south, at the St. Peter church hill, there was another cultic construction towards
Münsterhof Münsterhof (literally: Fraumünster abbey courtyard) is a town square situated in the Lindenhof hill, Lindenhof quarter in the historical center of Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest town square within the Altstadt (old town) of Zurich and i ...
, and in the west the settlement was bounded by the present Rennweg–Bahnhofstrasse lanes and the Münzplatz plaza. The largely flattened Lindenhof area elevates at above sea level, and rises about above the level of the Limmat at the Schipfe
Limmatquai ''Limmatquai'' () is a street in the Switzerland, Swiss city of Zurich. It is named after the Limmat, and it follows the right-hand (eastern) bank of that river for about through the ''Altstadt (Zürich), Altstadt'', or historical core, of the c ...
area in the west; probably some Roman buildings were built at the site of the Zunfthaus zur Zimmerleuten on the other riverbank, and the Roman settlement may stretched towards the present Münsterbrücke which is crossing the Limmat between
Grossmünster The Grossmünster (; "great minster") is a Romanesque-style Protestant church in Zürich, Switzerland. It is one of the four major churches in the city (the others being the Fraumünster, Predigerkirche, and St. Peterskirche). Its congregation ...
(remains of graves) and
Wasserkirche The ''Wasserkirche'' () in Zurich, first mentioned as (in the ablative) around 1250 and as ''wazzirkilcha'' in 1256, is a church built on a small island in the river Limmat, situated between the two main churches of medieval Zürich, the Gros ...
, and the Münsterhof plaza.


Roman Vicus


Founding

The earliest record of the town's name is preserved on the 2nd-century tombstone found in 1747 AD on the Lindenhof hill, referring to the Roman ''
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 ...
'' as "STA(tio) TUR(i)CEN(sis)" as customs station for goods going to and coming from Italy at the same location as the Celtic ''Oppidum''. The ''Vicus'' was founded probably around 15 BC, but there are no written sources. The Roman settlement first belonged to the province of ''
Gallia Belgica Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and German ...
'', and to ''
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 ('' Vesont ...
'' from AD 90. Roman Turicum was not fortified in the beginning, but there was a small garrison at the tax-collecting point, downstream of the lake respectively Limmat nearby the
Münsterhof Münsterhof (literally: Fraumünster abbey courtyard) is a town square situated in the Lindenhof hill, Lindenhof quarter in the historical center of Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest town square within the Altstadt (old town) of Zurich and i ...
plaza where the goods were loaded between small river boats on the Limmat and larger ships on Lake Zurich for the transport on the water route.


1st to late 4th century

Commercial and residential buildings were erected in the vicinity of the Lindenhof hill, in later times, '' Villae rusticae'' were established in the present suburban districts. At the present Zunfthaus zur Zimmerleuten at Limmatquai opposite of the Lindenhof hill, the area was stabilized with embankments; some of these mounds date back to the Roman settlement era. Due to its location on Lake Zurich lake shore at the effluence of the Limmat, where the goods had to be reloaded onto riverboats, and although Turicum was not situated alongside an important Roman main road, the water route was essential for the Roman army in the present Western and Northeastern Switzerland. Not yet archaeologically proven but suggested by historians, the very first construction of the present Münsterbrücke Limmat crossing was built in the Roman era, when the present Weinplatz square was the former civilian harbour of the Celtic-Roman ''Turicum'', and so the term ''Weinplatz'' (literally ''wine plaza'') has an ancient meaning. As a ''Vicus'', Turicum was not secured by town walls, but the buildings grouped around the customs station (''Quadragesima Galliarum'') where the clearance of goods and travelers prior to transfer between the provinces of ''Gallia Belgica'' and ''
Raetia Raetia or Rhaetia ( , ) was a province of the Roman Empire named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with Transalpine ...
'' took place, mainly on the water route (from and to the Roman heartland over the mountain passes of the Swiss Alps)
Walensee Lake Walen, also known as Lake Walenstadt or (), is one of the larger lakes in Switzerland. Located in the east of the country, about two thirds of its area are in the canton of St. Gallen and about one third in the canton of Glarus. Its na ...
- Obersee-Zürichsee passing '' Centum Prata'' (Kempraten) towards the Limmat, Aare and Rhine. Goods and travelers, probably also towards '' Vitudurum'' (Winterthur), were handled at the ''Vicus'' before crossing the Roman provinces of ''Gallia Belgica'' and ''Germania Superior'', and transferred on the Roman road between '' Vindonissa'' (Windisch) probably via
Irgenhausen Castrum Irgenhausen Castrum is a Switzerland in the Roman era, Roman Castra, 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 r ...
and ''Curia Raetorum'' (Chur). In Turicum a duty of 2.5% ('' Quadragesima Galliarum'') was levied. In 70/75 AD a harbor district rose on the newly acquired lands on the Limmat riverbank at the foot of Lindenhof ( SchipfeWeinplatz), and the settlement area was extended on the right bank of the Limmat at the present Limmatquai. Public buildings made of stone and paved roads were built. In addition to the fire bed tombs from the 1st century AD at
Münsterhof Münsterhof (literally: Fraumünster abbey courtyard) is a town square situated in the Lindenhof hill, Lindenhof quarter in the historical center of Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest town square within the Altstadt (old town) of Zurich and i ...
(''Poststrasse''), west of the Fraumünster church, also a round pit from the 2nd/3rd century was discovered, with numerous shards mainly of drinking cups and bowls, northeast of the church. At the site of the present Weinplatz towards St. Peterhofstatt the remains of remarkable 2nd to 4th century AD ''
Thermae In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...
'' were excavated. Christianity may have been introduced in the 3rd century by Felix and Regula, with whom Exuperantius was associated – according to the Christian legend, Felix and Regula and their servant were executed at the location of the
Wasserkirche The ''Wasserkirche'' () in Zurich, first mentioned as (in the ablative) around 1250 and as ''wazzirkilcha'' in 1256, is a church built on a small island in the river Limmat, situated between the two main churches of medieval Zürich, the Gros ...
in 286. Using the advantage of topography, the Roman military built a citadel on top of the Lindenhof hill in the years of the Roman emperor
Valentinian I Valentinian I (; 32117 November 375), also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. He ruled the Western Roman Empire, Western half of the empire, while his brother Valens ruled the Byzantine Empire, East. During his re ...
(364–375), to defend against migrations from the North by the
Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE, the Alemanni c ...
. 4500 m2 large, it was fitted with 10 towers and two meter wide walls. South of the Lindenhof ''Castrum'', at the location of the St. Peter church, there was a temple to
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
.


Grosser Hafner island sanctuary

An island sanctuary of the Helvetii in connection with settlement the preceding Oppidi Lindenhof and the 1st century BC settlement at the Lindenhof hill may have probably go back to the
La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a Iron Age Europe, European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman Republic, Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age ...
. During the reign of Emperor Hadrian, a round wooden temple as an island sanctuary was built on the ''Grosser Hafner'' island, which allows a dendrochronological dating. The building was erected in 122 AD, and consisted of oak piles driven deep into the lake bottom. It was surrounded probably with walls made of perishable materials, which formed a circle of seven meters in diameter. The rotunda is located on the former Neolithic island settlement, about away from the Roman ''Vicus''. The archaeological material indicates that the facility was used up in the 3rd century AD, even up in the 4th century AD by the Gallo-Roman population. On the one hand, the interpretation as the temple is based on the insularity and the design, on the other hand on finds of coins; the majority of the now nearly 90 coins probably are from a so far not proven predecessor building, probably from the third quarter of the 1st century AD. There are also the fragments of bar tiles of maybe another Roman building. On occasion of diving operations from 1998 to 2001 almost of tile fragments are ensured, and up to 40 coins and several pottery shards, as well as rectangular post hole.


Gallo-Roman era

The
Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE, the Alemanni c ...
settled, probably from the 5th century when the Roman military retreated back to Italy, but the Roman castle persisted into the 7th century and was reinforced by the
Ottonian dynasty The Ottonian dynasty () was a Saxons, Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman emperors, especially Otto the Great. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin in the German ...
, but was broken around 1218 AD. To date, few archaeological remains of the Roman Zürich could be excavated systematically because the remains of the settlement are hidden under the densely built-up core of the modern city of Zürich. Archaeologically excavated are the remains of public baths (Thermengasse), graves and traces of craft enterprises, residential buildings, as well as everyday objects and jewelry, but also of cult equipment.


Archaeological exploration

Archaeological excavations usually were executed on occasion of renewals of present buildings at Rennweg 5/7 (settlement structures), Fortunagasse 28/Rennweg 38 and Oetenbachgasse 5–9 (Celtic trench and settlement structures), Münzplatz (settlement structures), Lindenhof hill (Celtic, Roman and medieval settlement structures), Rennweg 35 (Celtic spot plates (''Tüpfelplatten'') and settlement structures), the Limmat (bars) and Bürkliplatz-Bahnhofstrasse (Celtic Potin coins), all representing the Helvetii and early Roman settlement. Focussed on the Gallo-Roman era, archaeological explorations were executed at Weinplatz 3/4/5 and Storchengasse 23 (harbour area and thermae), Storchengasse 13 (cultic building) and neighbored Fortunagasse 28/Rennweg 38 (maybe a hostel) and gold jewellery at the Sihlbühl area, Poststrasse/Zentralhof at Münsterhof (probably early medieval graves), and the island sanctuary (''Rundtempel'') on the former ''Grosser Hafner'' island. Some of the finds are shown ''in situ'' at the ''Thermengasse'' lane ( Weinplatz towards St. Peterhofstatt), and in the so-called ''Lindenhofkeller'' on the Lindenhof hill where the Celtii, Gallo-Roman and Carolinum walls are shown and explained by information boards by personal demand at ''Baugeschichtliches Archiv der Stadt Zürich'' opposite of the Grimmenturm respectively Theater Neumarkt buildings ( Neumarkt).


Protection

The hillside area of the
Lindenhof hill The Lindenhof (''"Tilia, linden yard"'') is a moraine hill and public square in the historic center of Zurich, Switzerland. It is the site of the Switzerland in the Roman era, Roman and Carolingian era Kaiserpfalz around which the city has histor ...
is listed as 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 ...
– including the remains of its prehistoric, Roman and medieval settlements respectively structures – as a ''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 offence according to Art. 24.


Name

The ancient name ''Turicum'', along with the indication of a Roman customhouse, is first attested in the
epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...
for Lucius Aelius Urbicus, an infant son of the , "head of the toll-station at Zurich", that was found on Lindenhof hill in 1747 and dates from 185/200 AD. Regula Frei-Stolba/Reinhold Kaiser & al., ''Die Römische Zeit'', in: ''Geschichte des Kantons Zürich'', vol. 1: ''Frühzeit bis Spätmittelalter'', Zürich 1995, . The place name reappears in the
Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...
as ''Turicum'', ''Turico'', ''Doricum'', ''Torico'', ''Turigo'', ''Turegum'', and in its
Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
forms ''Ziurichi'', ''Zurih'', with regularly shifted consonants; it is unanimously seen as a
Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ...
formation, *''Turikon'', though vowel quantities and accentuation have been a matter of debate: Stress on the second syllable in Rumantsch ''Turitg'', ''Turi'', as well as in the partially reshaped
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
form ''Zurigo'', have been taken as evidence establishing originally long ''-ī-'', that would have drawn the accent to the
penult ''Penult'' is a linguistics term for the second-to-last syllable of a word. It is an abbreviation of ''penultimate'', which describes the next-to-last item in a series. The penult follows the antepenult and precedes the ultima. For example, the ...
in
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
pronunciation; the constituting elements of the
toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...
have been identified as a
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...
''Tūros'' and a
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...
''-īko-'' forming relational adjectives. This analysis has been contested by arguing that the spelling ''Turegum'', widely attested in documents from the 9th century onward, seems to reflect
lenition In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them "weaker" in some way. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronically (within a language ...
of the intervocalic
stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade (, ), tongue body (, ), lip ...
, as well as lowering of short Latin ''ĭ'' to ''ĕ'', both common to most
Western Romance languages Western Romance languages are one of the two subdivisions of a proposed subdivision of the Romance languages based on the La Spezia–Rimini Line. They include the Ibero-Romance and Gallo-Romance. Gallo-Italic may also be included. The subdivi ...
, and that numerous other place names of Celtic origin, as Autricum, Avaricum or
Aventicum Aventicum was the largest town and capital of Roman Switzerland (Helvetia or Civitas Helvetiorum). Its remains are beside the modern town of Avenches. The city was probably created ''ex nihilo'' in the early 1st century AD, as the capital of ...
, are undoubtedly formed with a suffix ''-ĭko-'', and are usually derived from a
hydronym A hydronym (from , , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As a subset of top ...
; thus the basis of ''Turicum'' supposedly being ''Turos'' or ''Tura'', should rather be an ancient name of one of the watercourses around Lindenhof hill, either a distributary of the
Sihl The Sihl is a Switzerland, Swiss river that rises near the Druesberg mountain in the canton of Schwyz, and eventually flows into the Limmat in the centre of the Zürich, city of Zürich, after crossing the Zürich–Winterthur railway at . It has ...
river, or possibly the Limmat river. The Romansh and Italian forms may likely have been taken from medieval written records, with the accent determined by analogy within the borrowing languages, e. g. ''Turitg'' after ''amitg'', 'friend', which bears its stress on the second syllable, too.Manfred Niemeyer (ed.), ''Deutsches Ortsnamenbuch'', Berlin/Boston 2012, p. 719. The diverging evolution of several place names of Gaulish origin, as ''
Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...
'' < ''Bitúriges'', ''
Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...
'' < ''Bituríges''; '' Condes'' < ''Cóndate'', '' Condé'' < ''Condáte'', suggests that shifting accent and unsettled vowel quantity may not have been exceptional.Pierre-Yves Lambert, ''La langue Gauloise. Description linguistique, commentaire d’inscriptions choisies'', Paris 1994, p. 46.


See also

*
Lindenhof hill The Lindenhof (''"Tilia, linden yard"'') is a moraine hill and public square in the historic center of Zurich, Switzerland. It is the site of the Switzerland in the Roman era, Roman and Carolingian era Kaiserpfalz around which the city has histor ...
*
Oppidum Zürich-Lindenhof Lindenhof is the present name of the large fortified settlement, or oppidum, likely founded by the Helvetii on the Lindenhof hill on the western shore of the Limmat in Zurich, Switzerland. Geography The Lindenhof hill, Lindenhof is a moraine hil ...
*
List of Roman sites The following are lists of Roman Empire, Roman sites, sorted by present-day countries. Albania * Amphitheatre of Durrës * Tirana Mosaic Algeria * Djemila, Cuicul * Timgad, Thamugadi * Tipasa Austria * Bregenz#History, Brigantium * Carnu ...


References


Sources

* Margrit Balmer: Zürich in der Spätlatène- und frühen Kaiserzeit. Vom keltischen Oppidum zum römischen Vicus Turicum. In: Monographien der Kantonsarchäologie Zürich 39, Hochbaudepartement/Amt für Städtebau/Stadtarchäologie (Hrsg.), Fotorotar-Verlag, Zürich und Egg 2009, . * Peter J. Suter, Helmut Schlichtherle et al.: ''Pfahlbauten – Palafittes – Palafitte''. Palafittes, Biel 2009, . *
Dölf Wild Dölf Wild (born 1954) is a Swiss historian, archaeologist and science writer, and works as the chief archaeologist of the city of Zürich. He is best known for his research into the building industry of medieval Zürich and for his contribution ...
et al.: ''Stadtmauern. Ein neues Bild der Stadtbefestigung Zürich. Schrift zur Ausstellung im Haus zum Rech, Zürich 6. Februar bis 30. April 2004''. In: Stadtgeschichte und Städtebau in Zürich. Schriften zur Archäologie, Denkmalpflege und Stadtplanung. Volume 5. Werd-Verlag, Zürich 2004, . * Beat Eberschweiler: ''Ur- und frühgeschichtliche Verkehrswege über den Zürichsee: Erste Ergebnisse aus den Taucharchäologischen Untersuchungen beim Seedamm''. In: Mitteilungen des Historischen Vereins des Kantons Schwyz, Volume 96, Schwyz 2004. * Margrit Balmer, Stefanie Martin-Kilcher,
Dölf Wild Dölf Wild (born 1954) is a Swiss historian, archaeologist and science writer, and works as the chief archaeologist of the city of Zürich. He is best known for his research into the building industry of medieval Zürich and for his contribution ...
: ''Kelten in Zürich. Der Ursprung der Stadt in neuem Licht - Stadtgeschichte und Städtebau in Zürich''. In: Schriften zu Archäologie, Denkmalpflege und Stadtplanung, Voluma 2. Published by Amt für Städtebau der Stadt Zürich, Zürich 2001, .* Jürg E. Schneider, Walter Ulrich Guyan, Andreas Zürcher: ''Turicum, Vitudurum, Iuliomagus = Zürich, Winterthur und Schleitheim: drei römische Siedlungen in der Ostschweiz''. Ergänzte Sonderauflage, Werd-Verlag, Zürich 1988, . *
Staatsarchiv des Kantons Zürich Staatsarchiv may refer to the archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated ov ...
: ''Kleine Zürcher Verfassungsgeschichte 1218–2000''. Herausgegeben im Auftrag der Direktion der Justiz und des Innern auf den Tag der Konstituierung des Zürcher Verfassungsrates am 13. September 2000. Chronos, Zürich 2000, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Turicum (Zurich) History of Zurich Roman towns and cities in Switzerland Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Zurich 15 BC establishments