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Large panorama, information point and legionary

Travel back in time to 1,800 years ago: the 'skyline' of Augusta Raurica Who among us would not like to go on a journey back in time and visit the past? And then cast an eye over a landscape or peer into a building - to see what happened there many years ago.

- Panorama photograph - Panoramic view panorama pavilion and animal park - Live camera in the animal park in Augusta Raurica! - The Museum brochure 'Panorama Augusta Raurica' - Opening hours panorama pavilion and animal park
Today:		In Roman times:
The large panorama with the 'skyline' of Augusta Raurica on the top floor of the panorama pavilion You can go on an unusual 'journey back in time' in the area of the east gate of the Roman town of Augusta Raurica. There - in the middle of the animal park Augusta Raurica - stands a two-storey pavilion housing a small exhibition on trade, traffic and Roman agriculture. We have thought of something really special to put on the top floor of this small museum: a peek into the Roman past of this place by means of a drawing. After all, a picture paints a thousand words! The top floor of the panorama pavilion has two large windows: one of them faces the restored east gate, the other one looks out onto the funerary monument. The four walls in between are adorned with depictions of what Roman life was like here around 1,800 years ago. For instance, if you stand in a particular spot, you can see the excavated and restored east gate through the window and on the wall next to the window a reconstruction drawing of its appearance in Roman times.
Information pavilion housing large panorama and the exhibition 'Agricultural produce in the town' (in the foreground the remains of the funerary monument
Southwestern window: The remains of the east gate outside and its reconstruction drawing inside, in the panorama pavilion.
Northern window and eastern wall of the panorama: the circular funerary monument: conserved original and reconstruction in the wall painting.
Northern panorama wall: the Black Forest (Germany) across the Rhine as seen from the funerary monument.
Eastern panorama wall: Funerary monument, arterial road to Vindonissa and in the background the villa 'Im Liner' at the foot of the Jura hills.
Southern panorama wall: busy traffic; people travelling and goods being transported on the road to Vindonissa, which leaves the town of Augusta Raurica through the east gate leading eastwards.
Western panorama wall: highlight of the large panorama in Augst: the impressive skyline of the ancient town 1,800 years ago!
Exhibition 'trade and traffic' on the top floor of the panorama and information pavilion The modern pavilion with its information centre and the ancient east gate lie in a transition area between town and countryside: there was a constant flow of traffic here, tradesmen came and went, and trading was very visible in this area. The small exhibition seeks to create a link with the panorama mural. 'Trade and traffic' is presented in six display cases: details from the panorama like passers-by and wagons on the road out of the town (panorama on the southern wall) reappear in small coloured pictures in the display cases and provide the context for the finds presented.
Three display cases contain finds on the subject of 'trade and traffic' (below right), which are also depicted in the panorama painting (above).
For instance, you will see: the transportation of goods by wagon across bumpy cross-country roads (on display: wagon parts), riding and draught horses for the quick transportation of people and goods (bridle parts), the express transport of live oysters from the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts all the way to Augusta Raurica (oyster shells), the cumbersome transport of goods between the farmsteads and the markets in the town (exported pottery), the driving of slaughter animals to the town market (bones from much sought-after pigs' trotters), and people on foot (imprint of a Roman hobnailed shoe on a tile).
Exhibition 'Agricultural produce in the town' on the ground floor of the panorama information pavilion A wall-mounted exhibition highlights three aspects using photographs of original finds and large-format reconstruction drawings: 1. Agricultural produce for crafts and commerce: transportation by wagon and cart, textile crafts including spinning and weaving, textile crafts with the example of a fullery, bone crafts with carving and bone turning. 2. Agricultural produce for religious purposes: sacrificial plants and animals. 3. Agricultural produce for nutrition: slaughter animals for the town's population, vegetables, poultry and spices at the market, hams and sausages in smokehouses, grain mills and ovens in bakeries, dairy production with cheese making, and butchers producing meat for their customers and 'waste' for craftsmen.
Eleven panels with instructive images on the ground floor of the panorama building put the spotlight on eleven examples of 'agricultural produce in the town' (in the foreground of the picture a bone carver is turning and carving implements from bone and antler).
The legionary at the entrance to the animal park in Augusta Raurica In the 1st century AD the Roman army was stationed only 40 km away in the legionary camp of Vindonissa near Brugg. At certain times, smaller units were also stationed on the Rhine. It is entirely possible that soldiers also manned a sentry post at the east gate of Augusta Raurica. That is why there is a life-sized figure displayed at the entrance pavilion to the animal park.
For his protection, the legionary is wearing plate armour, a belt with an apron of leather straps (a so-called cingulum), a helmet and a shield. His weapons include a lance, a javelin, a sword and a dagger. Parts of 1st century military equipment have been found in Augusta Raurica. Plate armour afforded great freedom of movement to its wearer. It consisted of numerous iron plates held together by hinges, hooks and leather straps. Excavations in Augst revealed a metal workshop in the centre of the town (insula 22) containing a complete suit of armour consisting of 40 parts, which had been disassembled for recycling.
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