When in Rome... (or an outpost thereof)

It seems that some 2050 years ago, as the Romans were expanding their empire across central Europe, they stopped and built a settlement called Augusta Raurica in what is now the town of Augst, Switzerland. Augst is a sleepy little town 15 minutes by train outside of Basel Switzerland. Not much going on there, except that it was well located on a river that lay at the crossroads of several trading routes. In its day, Augusta Raurica boasted a forum, several temples, an underground well, baths and the largest Roman theater north of the Alps. Unfortunately, much of the stonework was recycled during the middle ages for new construction, but there are still significant foundations and such scattered throughout the cattle pastures.


Above are some of the excavated items on display next to the museum. In the background across the road you can begin to make out the theater ruins. Below, Delynn and Michael are at the theater. They have used the ruins as the basis for replicating a theater that is used today (in nice weather...)


The grey stones are excavations, the red stones are the new additions (this was done in the 1990's). The stage is of wood and everyone gets a good view.


Today, lazy swiss cows enjoy the sunlight in the shadow of a 2000 year old temple. When we got over to the far end of this pasture, we walked through the cow pasture to reach the temple and walk around it. They employ little 'v'-gates which allow people to pass but are too small for cows. As we walked past the cows, they were gathering as though they new it was time to start heading in for the evening milking. One even had a small swiss cowbell around her neck, but they seemed very used to having visitors walking the paths.

This picture is of the underground well. A tunnel was built to access the well which is located just behind the pillar on the right. What struck me was how incredibly dark it would have been - we are so spoiled with electricity and artificial light everywhere. Even with the lights, it was just a little eerie.

The city I lived in between 1984-1990, Augusta Vindelicorum, was founded in 15 B.C. and eventually became the city of Augsburg, Germany. Augusta Raurica, founded about 30 years earlier than Augsburg has a much better collection of ruins and foundations, probably because it did not prosper and grow as much as Augsburg did during the Middle ages and Renaissance. We didn't visit the museum - we are saving that for when our sisters come to visit over the Easter break...

The weather has also turned incredibly warm for two days now. It has reached 19 degrees (66 Fahrenheit) today which is really warm for February. Delynn and I are going to go out for a walk - the nice thing is that with everything closed, all we can do is window shop (and maybe stop off for an ice cream "kugel").

Be blessed; be a blessing to others.