Gardens of the Roman Empire

House in Insula 13 in Aventicum

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Location

Location Description

The town was established in the Augustan period as the civitas capital of the Helvetii. At this time the orthogonal street grid was laid out. Most probably in AD 71, it became Colonia Pia Flavia Constans Emerita Helvetiorum Foederata. The town was destroyed or badly damaged around AD 260, and it was progressively abandoned thereafter.

Garden

House in Insula 13 in Aventicum

Keywords

Garden Description

Recent excavations in Insula 13 on the northwestern edge of the town have uncovered the remains of two large and luxurious houses separated from each other by a narrow corridor. They date to the late 1st century and were occupied until the middle of the 3rd century. Both buildings had a length of 60 meters, spanning the length of the insula. The eastern house included a private bath suite and an apsed reception room on the southwest.

The most remarkable feature of the building was a T-shaped garden courtyard (G in Fig. 1) surrounded by a peristyle on all sides (Fig. 1). A ground line gutter ran around the edge of the courtyard. In the southern part of the garden was a large pool paved with limestone slabs and measuring 6 x 12 meters On the northern edge of the pool was a rectangular fountain. To the north of this was a square structure measuring 5.40 x 5.40 meters which may have been a garden pavilion.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of a courtyard house in Insula 13 with a peristyle garden (G) and pool (grey).

Credit: Plan adapted from Carroll 2001, fig. 20.

Dates

Houses: Late 1st century - Middle of 3rd century

Bibliography

J. Morel, "Chronique archéologique 1993," Bull. de l'Association Pro Aventico 35, 1993: 19-21, figs. 8, 11.
J. Morel, "L'habitat," in : A. Hochuli-Gysel, ed., Avenches, capitale des Helvètes, Archéologie Suisse 24.1, 2001: 45-46, figs. 58, 60. (worldcat)
M. Carroll, Romans, Celts and Germans. The German Provinces of Rome, Stroud, 2001, p. 55, fig. 20. (worldcat)

Places

House in Insula 16 in Aventicum

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Location

Location Description

Garden

House in Insula 16 in Aventicum

Keywords

Garden Description

In Insula 16 East, northeast of the forum, were small shops and houses belonging to three different owners. These were demolished when the town was promoted to the status of colonia by Vespasian. The new house occupied the whole insula and was entered on the northeast.

In the middle of the insula was a large peristyle courtyard which may have been planted (G in Fig. 1). In the southwestern part of the building complex taverns and shops opened onto the colonnaded street.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of the house with a possible peristyle garden (G) in Insula 16.

Credit: Adapted from McKay 1986, fig. 186.

Dates

AD 71

Bibliography

H. Bögli and D. Weidmann, "Nouvelles recherches à Aventicum," Archäologie der Schweiz 2, 1978:71-72, fig. 2.(worldcat)
A. G. McKay, Houses, Villas and Palaces in the Roman World, London, 1975, pp. 202-203, fig. 186. (worldcat)

Places

Palatial House in Insula 7 in Aventicum

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Location

Location Description

Garden

Palatial House in Insula 7 in Aventicum

Keywords

Garden Description

The remains of a palatial house (Palais de Derrière la Tour) were recently uncovered in excavations on the western edge of the city in an area characterized by luxurious domestic dwellings (Fig. 1). The house in its final state, from the Severan period to the middle of the 3rd century, had a peristyle courtyard measuring 42 x 69 meters. North of the courtyard was a reception room 12 x 18 meters in plan with a mosaic floor.

The courtyard was on two levels, divided on the north by a terrace wall with two small exedrae, possibly pools. An axially arranged central pathway between the reception room on the north and an apsed triclinium on the south further divided the courtyard into an eastern and a western half. Steps led up to the triclinium and to the northern wing of the house. A ground level gutter ran around the courtyard, and a covered drain crossed it beneath the central path. It can reasonably be assumed that the courtyard was designed as a garden (G in Fig. 1) with garden elements such as the path and the exedral pools. With the addition on the northeast of another wing terminating in a bath complex, the building ultimately had a length of around 200 meters. The excavators believe that the building in its latest phase had official character.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of the courtyard house or palace on the western fringe of Insula 7, with a garden courtyard (G) with two small apsidal pools on one side.

Credit: Plan adapted from Morel 1995, fig. 4.

Dates

Severnan Period - Middle of 3rd century

Bibliography

J. Morel, "Avenches VD, Derrière la Tour et insula 7 : Fouilles 1989/1990," Annuaire de la Société Suisse de Préhistoire et d'Archéologie 74, 1991: 214-220, fig. 2. (worldcat)
J. Morel, "Avenches, Palais de Derrière la Tour," Bull. de l'Association Pro Aventico 37, 1995: 206-209, fig. 4.(worldcat)
J. Morel, "L'habitat," in : A. Hochuli-Gysel, ed., Avenches, capitale des Helvètes, Archéologie Suisse 24.1 2001: 47-49, fig. 62.(worldcat)