Various finds (column drums, capitals, ceramics, tiles, pottery kilns, wells) indicate that there was a settlement in the centre of Kloten in the first to third century. In 1989-1990 a small late-antique fortress was discovered and excavated between the Kirchgasse and the Reformed Church. It was a square building with sides 27 m. long and 2.35 m. thick. It had four round towers on the corners. The entrance gate was in the north side. The fortress was built during the reign of Valentinianus I (364-375 AD) or Valentinianus II (375-392 AD).
Plan and reconstruction drawing of the fortress. Hedinger 1998, Abb. 2.
A: courtyard of the fortress; B: late-antique well; C: pottery kiln; D: well; E: Mediaeval tower.
Literature
Keller 1864(2), 99-100; Drack 1982(2); Jomini 1990; Jahrbuch der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte 74 (1991), 261; Drack-Fellmann 1991, 150; Hedinger 1998; Matter et al. 2009.
[29-Mar-2024]
