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Western gate of the fort

Entrance to the fort = entrance to the village 1700 years of history lie between the Late Roman west gate, which opened onto the main thoroughfare of the fort, and the bend in the road, which leads today into the old centre of the village of Kaiseraugst. The only reference to the large fortification can be seen in the pavement.

- Castrum Rauracense (Kaiseraugst fort) - Fort wall - Roman fortifications
Today:		In Roman times:
The west gate would once have been one of the most impressive sections of the fort wall. Flanked by two exterior towers, it extended into the interior of the fort enclosing the great west-east axis like a forceps. The present-day village road still follows the course of the west-east axis of the Roman fort, where the ground plan of the west gate is marked by paving stones today and also at its eastern end. A wastewater drain covered by heavy stone slabs ran under the gateway and wheel tracks with a gauge of 1.63 metres were hewn into the slabs. This corresponds with the wheel gauge of Roman carriages. A small 'treasure' consisting of 278 Late Roman coins was recovered on the south side of the gate in 1975. It was probably lost or hidden because of a fire - possibly on the occasion of the destruction of the fort known to have taken place shortly after AD 350. At that stage, life on the northern frontier had become uncertain, because of incursions by the Alamanni and the turmoil within the empire. The silver treasure was concealed in the southwestern corner of the fort around the same time.
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