Kirchberg, part of Küttigen, is located on the northern bank of the Aare, opposite Aarau. Already at an early date, in 1812, Roman remains were reported in the area to the south of the church of Kirchberg: a black-and-white mosaic and an aqueduct or water pipeline. In 1906 a villa was excavated 140 meters to the south of the church, by Aug. Gessner and Ernst Bandi. The ruins seemed to have been searched earlier however.
The Aare with the church of Kirchberg in the background. Photo: Wikimedia, Heitersberg.The excavated part measures 49 x 27 m. The south side is taken up by a porticus (R) flanked by two projecting rooms. In the central room E remains of plaster with vegetative motifs were found. In room K the dodecagonal stucco decoration of a wooden column was unearthed. In room L fragments of a marble cornice emerged. Room M was a heated bathing room, witness the raised floor. In rooms N and T fragments of black-and-white mosaic floors were found. Water conduits were not encountered.
Plan of the villa. Gessner 1908, p. 27.
In the north-west corner of the building was a kitchen with two furnaces. Among the finds were stone axes, whetstones, an iron knife, a bronze handle, shards of terra sigillata and coarse crockery, animal bones, and a fragment of a millstone.
Drawing of the remains of the kitchen. Gessner 1908, p. 29.
As date of construction the early first century has been proposed. The villa seems to have been used until the late fourth century. The fragments and finds were taken to the Vindonissa Museum in Brugg.
Literature
Haller von Königsfelden 1812, 429-431; Keller 1864(2), 152; Gessner 1908; Drack 1950, 88-90; Hartmann-Weber 1985, 178; Drack-Fellmann 1988, 418-419.
[23-Aug-2023]
