Carroll, M. (2026). "Rural Villa in Orbe." Gardens of the Roman Empire, accessed October 2, 2026. https://roman-gardens.github.io/id/58d35fd6db/

Rural Villa in Orbe

Contributor: June Dorsch
Published: 2026-10-01
Last modified: 2026-10-02

Dates

mid-1st century CE - 4th century

Garden Description

This large palatial house belonged to a villa rustica revealed by excavation and aerial photography. The enclosed farmyard is calculated to have been approximately 420 x 650 meters in size. The house itself, built in the mid-1st century CE and in use until the 4th century, was 200 meters long (Fig. 1). This winged corridor house had two large open courtyards between the protruding wings at the front. These were very likely gardens (G in Fig. 1). Twenty-five meters in front of the house at the east was a long terrace wall 400 meters long running north-south. There may have been gardens or a park (G in Fig. 1) between the house and this terrace wall.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of the rural villa (A) with two large courtyard gardens (G) and a possible walled garden (G) to the east of the main house. The dotted lines are structures known only from aerial photography.
Credit: Adapted from Drack and Fellmann 1988, fig. 423.

Bibliography

  • D. Weidmann, "L'établissement romain d'Orbe/Boscéaz," Archäologie der Schweiz 2, 1978: 84-86. (worldcat)
  • W. Drack and R. Fellmann, Die Römer in der Schweiz, Stuttgart, 1988, pp. 463-465, figs. 422-423. (worldcat)
  • R. Fellmann, La Suisse gallo-romaine. Cinq siècles d'histoire, Lausanne, 1992, pp. 152-153, fig. 112. (worldcat)
  • Th. Luginbühl, J. Monnier, Y. Dubois, Vie de palais et travail d'esclave. La villa romaine d'Orbe-Boscéaz. Document du Musée cantonal d'archéologie et d'histoire, Lausanne, 2001, pp. 34-36, 53-55, figs. 28-29, 40, 49-51. (worldcat)

Keywords

Places