Augusta Raurica (Kaiseraugst)

Switzerland's best-preserved Roman ruins. This legionary fortress and colony had 20,000 inhabitants. The theatre, temple, and forum are remarkably intact. Wine was imported up the Rhine from Germania and Gaul. The museum displays wine vessels and amphorae.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Stand Where the Surveyors Stood in 44 BC History · Free

   The founding of Augusta Raurica happened the year Julius Caesar was murdered. His orders went ahead without him.

   Where: The Roman Theatre, Giebenacherstrasse 17, Augst — the open-air site is free and open 24/7. From Kaiseraugst train station (S1 from Basel SBB, 12 min, CHF 6-8), walk 15 minutes following the Roman city signs.

   What: On March 15, 44 BC, Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times in the Roman Senate. On that same date — possibly that same week — his governor Lucius Munatius Plancus was surveying THIS river bend in Gaul, executing orders Caesar had issued before his death. Plancus planted the city flag here, then went on to found Lyon the following year. He was building Rome's future while Rome was consuming itself in civil war. The theatre you're standing in front of — its foundations date to those orders. Walk from the theatre directly east to the adjacent main forum complex with its Jupiter temple. The theatre and temple formed a single architectural unit: civic performance and civic faith, side by side, the twin pillars of Roman identity.

   How: Enter the theatre from the front access path. The seating cavea is open — you can walk up into it. At the top, look out over the Rhine valley. This is the vista that convinced Plancus: a river bend, defensive high ground, agricultural flatlands below. The Romans read landscape like a military map and a business plan simultaneously. The site is fully accessible, no ticket required. Information panels in English, German and French throughout.

   Backup: If the theatre is closed for a private performance (check augustaraurica.ch/en/experience/calendar-of-events), the amphitheatre on the southwest edge of the site is equally free and impressive — 13,000-spectator capacity for gladiator fights, with three corridors once wide enough to drive whole animal herds into the arena.

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2. 2 Touch the Objects a Roman Officer Buried in a Panic and Never Returned For History · Price: low

   In 351 AD someone packed 272 silver pieces into a wooden chest and buried it. The hay they used as padding left imprints still visible on the metal today.

   Where: The Römermuseum Augst, Giebenacherstrasse 17, Augst — directly opposite the Roman theatre. CHF 8 adults, CHF 6 reduced. Open daily 10:00-17:00 (Mar-Oct); Tue-Sun 10:00-15:00 (Nov-Feb).

   What: In 351 AD, a Roman tribune named Marcellianus — his name appears stamped or inscribed on 13 of the 272 objects — packed the finest silver in his household into a wooden chest, packed hay between the pieces to stop them rattling, and buried it beneath the fortress floor. He was in the direct entourage of Emperor Constans. The silver was not just wealth: the Achilles dish alone was 53 cm across, 4.6 kg of silver, made by craftsman Pausylypos, depicting scenes from the Trojan War in extraordinary detail, an imperial gift. The Constans platter — 56 cm, gilded silver — was struck for the tenth anniversary of an emperor's reign. This was the equivalent of state jewels. Marcellianus buried them and ran. He never came back. The chest sat in the ground for 1,610 years. In December 1961, a mechanical digger levelling a school playground ripped it out of the earth and dumped it on a mud heap. Construction workers pocketed pieces. The Achilles dish was recovered from a school rubbish bin. In 1995, 18 more pieces that had been quietly pocketed in 1961 finally surfaced.

   How: The museum is intimate — designed so that every major piece is at eye level. Go straight to the silver treasure room. Ask at the front desk for the English-language treasure catalogue (CHF 3-5). The hay imprints on the base of several vessels are visible under the display lighting — this is the detail that stops people cold. Spend 45 minutes here minimum. IMPORTANT NOTE FOR 2026: Until June 28, 2026, the complete silver treasure is on loan to the Basel Historical Museum (Historisches Museum Basel, Barfüsserplatz 7) for the exhibition 'Treasure Hoards – Hidden, Lost, Found.' The museum in Augst still displays other finds and the reconstructed Roman house. If visiting before June 28, 2026, the treasure detour to Basel (20 min by tram) is worth every minute — this is the ONLY time in years the complete 272-piece set has been shown together.

   Backup: If you can't make it to Basel, the Römermuseum still holds 1.7 million finds in storage with a strong rotating selection on display — pottery, tools, personal items, jewelry — the texture of 20,000 lives.

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3. 3 Walk Into a Roman Family's Home — and Open Their Kitchen Drawers History · Price: low

   Built at 1:1 scale in 1954, this fully furnished Roman house is modelled on a Pompeii urban villa. You can touch almost everything.

   Where: The Römerhaus (Roman House), adjacent to the Römermuseum Augst — included with museum admission (CHF 8 adults). Same address: Giebenacherstrasse 17, Augst.

   What: In 1954-1955, archaeologists built a full-scale replica of an urban Roman villa directly on the Augusta Raurica site, modelled on houses at Pompeii and furnished with either original artifacts or period-accurate replicas. This is not a reconstruction you look at behind glass. The house has a central courtyard with garden and porticoes. A banquet hall. A private bath. Sleeping rooms. A working kitchen with Roman cooking implements that visitors are allowed to handle. On the street-facing side: a butcher's shop with a kiln for smoking meat, a smithy, a bronze foundry — the business premises that would front any wealthy Roman's home.

   How: Enter the house as you would enter someone's home — through the main entrance from the street. The kitchen is in the back. Pick up the clay vessel on the kitchen shelf. The texture is not theatrical recreation; it is the actual weight and feel of daily Roman domestic life, the same clay, same proportions, same hand-thrown irregularities. In the banquet hall, look at the dining arrangement: Romans ate lying down on couches around a central table. The host lay at the head. The position you were assigned told you exactly where you stood in the social hierarchy. This house was someone's daily reality for 200 years.

   Backup: The animal park adjacent to the house is free and features Roman-era farm breeds — Valais Country Sheep, Nera Verzasca Goats, woolly pigs — the actual genetic descendants of animals that grunted and bleated in Augusta Raurica when Marcellianus was still alive.

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4. 4 Drink Blauburgunder on the Rhine Terraces Where Rome Planted Its First Vines Wine · Price: moderate

   The Basel-Landschaft wine trail begins at Augusta Raurica. The chalky Jura slopes above the Rhine have been growing Pinot Noir — here called Blauburgunder — since the Roman legions needed wine on the northern frontier.

   Where: Landgasthof Adler, Dorfstrasse 35, 4303 Kaiseraugst — a 10-minute walk from the Augusta Raurica main gate, in the village of Kaiseraugst itself. Or, for a longer wine day, follow the Basel-Landschaft wine trail toward Aesch or Liestal.

   What: The wine that grew on these Rhine chalky slopes when Augusta Raurica was a city of 20,000 was Roman provincial wine — carried in amphorae up and down this river to supply 40,000+ soldiers stationed along the limes (frontier). When Rome fell, the monasteries took over the vineyards. Today the same south-facing chalky Jura slopes produce Basel-Landschaft Blauburgunder (Pinot Noir) — 114 hectares across nine growing areas. The Upper Rhine Plain channels a Mediterranean warming effect up into these hills, giving the wines a richness that surprises everyone who assumes Switzerland only makes thin whites. This is not a famous wine region. It is a secret one. Order local specifically.

   How: At Landgasthof Adler, ask specifically for a Basel-Landschaft Blauburgunder or Baselland Pinot Noir from the wine list — the Aargau and Basel-Landschaft cantons both produce versions on these Rhine terraces. The Adler's garden restaurant operates in summer under large parasols. Reservation recommended — this is a working local restaurant, not a tourist trap, and they fill up. Cost: CHF 20-45 per person for a meal with wine.

   Backup: If returning to Basel, the Consum Wine Bar in Kleinbasel (100+ wines, salami and cheese platters, street terrace) or VinOptimum Enoteca (100+ European wines, fondue vigneronne) will have Basel-Landschaft wines by the glass. Ask for anything from the Baselland or Aargau appellation.

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5. 5 Arrive by Bike Along the River Rome Used as Its Highway Adventure · Free · Optional

   The Rhine was Rome's logistics artery for the entire northern frontier. Wine, oil, amphorae, soldiers — everything moved on this water. You can ride the same route.

   Where: EuroVelo 15 Rhine Cycle Route, Basel to Augst. Start from Basel's riverside near the Mittlere Brücke or Basel SBB station area. The route is signed as Swiss National Route 2.

   What: For 40,000 Roman soldiers stationed along the Rhine limes, this river was the supply line that kept the empire's northern edge alive. Wine from Gaul, olive oil from Spain, pottery from the Mediterranean — all transported on flat-bottomed river barges past this exact bend in the river, docking at Augusta Raurica's port. River transport in the Roman world was 5-10 times cheaper than overland. Augusta Raurica thrived because it sat at the intersection of the Rhine highway and the Alpine passes south. Riding 20 km upriver to arrive at a Roman city you just watched grow from the distance is not sightseeing. It is spatial understanding.

   How: The route is flat, well-surfaced, and takes 1-1.5 hours each direction. Bike rental in Basel: multiple shops near the station, approximately CHF 20-35/day. The route follows the south bank of the Rhine through agricultural flatlands and small towns. Augusta Raurica appears on your left as you enter Augst — the theatre's curved profile is visible from the river path. Lock your bike at the entrance to the open-air site and walk directly in. The open-air site is free. Return to Basel by S1 train from Kaiseraugst station (bikes allowed, 12 minutes, CHF 6-8) if legs give out.

   Backup: If not cycling, the S1 train from Basel SBB to Kaiseraugst runs every 30 minutes (12 min, CHF 6-8). Or bus 81 from Basel Aeschenplatz to Augst Stundeglas stop, then 15-minute walk to the site.

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