Basel-Münsterhügel
47°33′21″N 7°35′35″E / 47.5557°N 7.5930°E
Basel-Münsterhügel is the site of an Iron Age (late La Tène) fort or oppidum, known as Basel oppidum, constructed by the Gaulish Rauraci after the battle of Bibracte in 58 BC. It the site of Basel Minster, in the Swiss city of Basel.[1]
The fort was abandoned or destroyed shortly after its construction, before the end of the 1st century BC, with the Roman conquest of the Alps and the establishment of the province of Gallia Belgica.
By the early 1st century AD, there was a small vicus on the hill built on top of the ruins of the oppidum, possibly the origin of the name Basilia, from a toponym villa Basilia "estate of Basilius". In the mid-3rd century, the ruined oppidum was rebuilt as a Roman
The site was excavated by Furger-Gunti in the 1970s. There is an older undefended La Tène site at Basel Gasfabrik, not far from the oppidum, which was abandoned after the fort was completed.
See also
- Murus Gallicus
- Augusta Raurica
References
- ^ Blake Wiener, James (2018-09-14). "Augusta Raurica". World History Encyclopedia (World History Publishing UK, World History Foundation CA). Retrieved 2023-06-17.
- René Teuteberg, Basler Geschichte Christoph Merian Verlag, 2nd ed. Basel 1988. ISBN 3-85616-034-5, p. 52.
- Andres Furger-Gunti, Oppidum Basel-Münsterhügel. Grabungen 1971-72 an der Rittergasse 5, Jahrbuch SGU, 1974/75, pp. 77–111.
- Andres Furger-Gunti, Das spätkeltische Oppidum von Basel-Münsterhügel: Der Murus Gallicus, Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 2, 1972, pp. 165–168.
- Andres Furger-Gunti, Das keltische Basel (1981).