Irgenhausen Castrum
Encyclopedia
Irgenhausen Castrum is a Roman
fort
in Irgenhausen
, Switzerland
. It was a square fort, measuring 60 metres (197 ft) in square, with four corner towers and three additional towers. The remains of a stone wall in the interior were probably a spa
.
, a village of the municipality of Pfäffikon
in the canton of Zürich
in Switzerland
. Bürglen (Swiss German
: "small castle") is a 25 metres (82 ft) high drumlin
, 400 metres (1,312 ft) from the eastern shore of Lake Pfäffikon, situated between Pfäffikon and Kempten, the site of another Roman settlement nearby.
, along Pfäffikersee
there was a Roman road
from the vicus
Centum Prata (Kempraten
) on Lake Zürich
via Vitudurum (Oberwinterthur
) to Tasgetium (Eschenz
) on the Rhine. To secure this important transport route, the castrum was built. The native name of the fort is unknown: Irgenhausen
was mentioned in AD 811 as Camputuna sive Irincheshusa, so maybe the castrum's name was Cambodunum, the Roman name of the neighbooring village of Kempten.
In 1897 stones of the ruined building (believed at the time to be those of a medieval castle) were used for the construction of a factory nearby; the dilapidation was stopped by the Antiquarische Gesellschaft in Zürich
in order to start archaeological investigations, carried out between 1898 and 1908, and to preserve the walls. The castrum was set under federal protection as Kastell Irgenhausen in 1909. Walter Mittelholzer
made an aerial exploration of the fort and the surrounding area, whereupon in the closer environment Roman villae rusticae
, among them one in Kempten, were localized and excavated. In 1957, the land and the castle were sold to the community of Pfäffikon.
around AD 294/295. The other theory, based on the Roman coins found inside the castrum, dated the construction from 364 to 375, in the era of the Emperor Valentinian II
. As early as AD 400 the castrum was evacuated and destroyed by Alamanni
invaders.
The excavations restored a 1.4 metres (5 ft) high foundation wall that has an almost square outline of 60 metres (197 ft) x 61 metres (200 ft), and thus an area of only 0.366 hectares. The fort had four corner towers (8 metres (26 ft) x 8 metres (26 ft)), a gate tower on the southeast side and three low towers on the north, west and south front (6 metres (20 ft)), and an approximately 1.9 metres (6 ft) strong enclosing wall. The materials used by the Roman soldiers derived from glacial deposits, furthermore, there is a mixture of sernifite from Glarus, limestone
and conglomerate
. The walls of the towers measure between 1.2 metres (4 ft) up to 1.4 metres (5 ft). The main access was from the south through the gate in the middle of the eastern front. The other three sides hade small side entrances.
In addition to the remains of the towers and surrounding wall, there were found the remains of stone interior buildings: a three-roomed building was seen as a spa
. Another building with three rooms has been interpreted as principia, the headquarters of the fort. At the southern corner tower a hypocaust
system of an older villa rustica
from the 1st to the 3rd century was excavated. The other buildings were made of wood and therefore cannot be individually identified. However, some military barracks, a horreum
and a praetorium
was probably built inside the fort. In the middle of the hill there was a sunken room. Most of the relics found inside the fort date from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD and are thought to be relics of the villa rustica on whose ruins the fort was built. At the present time, a red ribbon in the wall shows where the Roman wall ends and the restored wall begins.
Switzerland in the Roman era
The history of Switzerland in the Roman era encompasses the roughly six centuries during which the territory of modern Switzerland was a part of the Roman Republic and Empire...
fort
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
in Irgenhausen
Irgenhausen
Irgenhausen is a village of the municipality of Pfäffikon in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland.-Geography:Irgenhausen is located in the district of Pfäffikon in the Zürcher Oberland on the eastern shore of the Pfäffikersee .-History:In Roman era, along Pfäffikersee there was a Roman road from...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. It was a square fort, measuring 60 metres (197 ft) in square, with four corner towers and three additional towers. The remains of a stone wall in the interior were probably a spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
.
Geography
The castrum is situated on the Bürglen hill in IrgenhausenIrgenhausen
Irgenhausen is a village of the municipality of Pfäffikon in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland.-Geography:Irgenhausen is located in the district of Pfäffikon in the Zürcher Oberland on the eastern shore of the Pfäffikersee .-History:In Roman era, along Pfäffikersee there was a Roman road from...
, a village of the municipality of Pfäffikon
Pfäffikon, Zurich
Pfäffikon is a municipality in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district of the same name. It is not to be confused with Pfäffikon SZ on Lake Zurich but in the canton of Schwyz.-History:...
in the canton of Zürich
Canton of Zürich
The Canton of Zurich has a population of . The canton is located in the northeast of Switzerland and the city of Zurich is its capital. The official language is German, but people speak the local Swiss German dialect called Züritüütsch...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Bürglen (Swiss German
Swiss German
Swiss German is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg...
: "small castle") is a 25 metres (82 ft) high drumlin
Drumlin
A drumlin, from the Irish word droimnín , first recorded in 1833, is an elongated whale-shaped hill formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or ground moraine.-Drumlin formation:...
, 400 metres (1,312 ft) from the eastern shore of Lake Pfäffikon, situated between Pfäffikon and Kempten, the site of another Roman settlement nearby.
History
In the Roman eraSwitzerland in the Roman era
The history of Switzerland in the Roman era encompasses the roughly six centuries during which the territory of modern Switzerland was a part of the Roman Republic and Empire...
, along Pfäffikersee
Pfäffikersee
Pfäffikersee is a lake in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, near the town of Pfäffikon. It is 2.5 km long and 1.3 km wide at the middle. The lake was created in the last ice age when a moraine blocked off the ability for the lake to empty north towards Winterthur...
there was a Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
from the vicus
Vicus (Rome)
In ancient Rome, the vicus was a neighborhood. During the Republican era, the four regiones of the city of Rome were subdivided into vici. In the 1st century BC, Augustus reorganized the city for administrative purposes into 14 regions, comprising 265 vici. Each vicus had its own board of...
Centum Prata (Kempraten
Kempraten
Kempraten-Lenggis is a village within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona, Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is one of the most important archeological sites in the canton of St...
) on Lake Zürich
Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. It is also known as Lake Zürich and Lake of Zürich. It lies approximately at co-ordinates ....
via Vitudurum (Oberwinterthur
Oberwinterthur
Oberwinterthur is a district in the Swiss city of Winterthur. It is district number 2.The district comprises the quarters Talacker, Guggenbühl, Zinzikon, Reutlingen, Stadel, Grüze, Hegmatten and Hegi....
) to Tasgetium (Eschenz
Eschenz
Eschenz is a municipality in Frauenfeld District in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.-History:The prehistoric shore village on Werd Island and in the Seeäckern area are rich archeological sites that have contributed substantially to our understanding of the history of settlements in the...
) on the Rhine. To secure this important transport route, the castrum was built. The native name of the fort is unknown: Irgenhausen
Irgenhausen
Irgenhausen is a village of the municipality of Pfäffikon in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland.-Geography:Irgenhausen is located in the district of Pfäffikon in the Zürcher Oberland on the eastern shore of the Pfäffikersee .-History:In Roman era, along Pfäffikersee there was a Roman road from...
was mentioned in AD 811 as Camputuna sive Irincheshusa, so maybe the castrum's name was Cambodunum, the Roman name of the neighbooring village of Kempten.
In 1897 stones of the ruined building (believed at the time to be those of a medieval castle) were used for the construction of a factory nearby; the dilapidation was stopped by the Antiquarische Gesellschaft in Zürich
Antiquarische Gesellschaft in Zürich
The Antiquarische Gesellschaft in Zürich , often shortened to Antiquarische or AGZ, is an association concerned with the study and preservation of the history of the canton of Zürich...
in order to start archaeological investigations, carried out between 1898 and 1908, and to preserve the walls. The castrum was set under federal protection as Kastell Irgenhausen in 1909. Walter Mittelholzer
Walter Mittelholzer
Walter Mittelholzer was a Swiss aviation pioneer. He was active as a pilot, photographer, travel writer, and also as one of the first aviation entrepreneurs....
made an aerial exploration of the fort and the surrounding area, whereupon in the closer environment Roman villae rusticae
Villa rustica
Villa rustica was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a villa set in the open countryside, often as the hub of a large agricultural estate . The adjective rusticum was used to distinguish it from an urban or resort villa...
, among them one in Kempten, were localized and excavated. In 1957, the land and the castle were sold to the community of Pfäffikon.
Architecture
For the dating of the fort there are two theories: the first assumes that the fort was built at the time of the Emperor DiocletianDiocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
around AD 294/295. The other theory, based on the Roman coins found inside the castrum, dated the construction from 364 to 375, in the era of the Emperor Valentinian II
Valentinian II
Flavius Valentinianus , commonly known as Valentinian II, was Roman Emperor from 375 to 392.-Early Life and Accession :...
. As early as AD 400 the castrum was evacuated and destroyed by Alamanni
Alamanni
The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...
invaders.
The excavations restored a 1.4 metres (5 ft) high foundation wall that has an almost square outline of 60 metres (197 ft) x 61 metres (200 ft), and thus an area of only 0.366 hectares. The fort had four corner towers (8 metres (26 ft) x 8 metres (26 ft)), a gate tower on the southeast side and three low towers on the north, west and south front (6 metres (20 ft)), and an approximately 1.9 metres (6 ft) strong enclosing wall. The materials used by the Roman soldiers derived from glacial deposits, furthermore, there is a mixture of sernifite from Glarus, limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and conglomerate
Conglomerate (geology)
A conglomerate is a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix that have become cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of rounded fragments and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts...
. The walls of the towers measure between 1.2 metres (4 ft) up to 1.4 metres (5 ft). The main access was from the south through the gate in the middle of the eastern front. The other three sides hade small side entrances.
In addition to the remains of the towers and surrounding wall, there were found the remains of stone interior buildings: a three-roomed building was seen as a spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
. Another building with three rooms has been interpreted as principia, the headquarters of the fort. At the southern corner tower a hypocaust
Hypocaust
A hypocaust was an ancient Roman system of underfloor heating, used to heat houses with hot air. The word derives from the Ancient Greek hypo meaning "under" and caust-, meaning "burnt"...
system of an older villa rustica
Villa rustica
Villa rustica was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a villa set in the open countryside, often as the hub of a large agricultural estate . The adjective rusticum was used to distinguish it from an urban or resort villa...
from the 1st to the 3rd century was excavated. The other buildings were made of wood and therefore cannot be individually identified. However, some military barracks, a horreum
Horreum
A horreum was a type of public warehouse used during the ancient Roman period. Although the Latin term is often used to refer to granaries, Roman horrea were used to store many other types of consumables; the giant Horrea Galbae in Rome were used not only to store grain but also olive oil, wine,...
and a praetorium
Praetorium
- Etemology :The praetorium, also spelled prœtorium or pretorium, was originally used to identify the general’s tent within a Roman Castra, Castellum, or encampment. The word originates from the name of the chief Roman magistrate, known as Praetor...
was probably built inside the fort. In the middle of the hill there was a sunken room. Most of the relics found inside the fort date from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD and are thought to be relics of the villa rustica on whose ruins the fort was built. At the present time, a red ribbon in the wall shows where the Roman wall ends and the restored wall begins.
Literature
- Beat Horisberger,Bettina Hedinger, Florian Hoek, Roger Büsser: Römisches Landleben im Zürcher Oberland. Huber + Co. AG, Frauenfeld 2007. ISBN 3-7193-1441-3
- Antiquarische Gesellschaft Zürich: Zeitreise: Irgenhausen. Archäologische Entdeckungen rund um das römische Kastell Pfäffikon Irgenhausen: von der Jungsteinzeit bis zu den Ausgrabungen vor hundert Jahren. Zürcher Oberland Buchverlag, Wetzikon 1999. ISBN 3-85981-196-7