The Romans in Switzerland: Vindonissa Camp Movie

If you are any where near the town of Windisch in the district of Brugg in Switzerland, consider visiting the site of a Roman camp at Vindonissa, especially if you interested in Roman histoy or have children with you. The Romans were here before you, occupying a strategic area on a peninsula between the Reuss and Aare rivers. Even before the Romans got here a Bronze Age tribe, the Helvetii, had built a fortified village on the site, but apart from earthworks there is not much to see of them.
The Romans probaly established a Legion Camp in Vindonissa in 15 BC, during their conquest of the Alps. Over the following century they gradually developed the site, putting in water, strengthening the fortifications, and building the largest amphitheatre in Switzerland, until the camp became a civilian settlement around 100 AD. Archaeological excavations started in 1896, and the site is now open to the public as a mixture of reconstructed and original ruined features.
Don’t Miss the amphitheatre, which is where the video starts – enough of it survives to give you a good idea of the complete building. Then the ‚Contubernia‘, the living quarters of a single unit of men (in a modern army it would be called „a Mess“). Here children of any age can join the Legionärspfad (The Legionnaire’s Trail), for a fun way to explore Vindonissa.
Original excavated Roman features they will see are: two strong gates, the West Gate and the North Gate, which still convey an understanding of the power of the fort; an underground canal bringing water to the camp – and it still works; the baths: always important to the Romans, consisting of a cold room with cold water bath, a warm room and a sweating room with under floor heating (hypercaust) and typical coloured wall paintings.
The artefacts discovered in the excavation of the Legion Camp are displayed at the Vindonissa Museum, which is in Brugg.