In Winkel, some thirteen kilometers to the north of Zürich, a large villa has been found at the locality Seeb. Excavations took place in the second half of the 19th century (partly financed by the sale of the ancient stones as building material) and in the 1950's and 1960's. A first villa, of wood, was built in the middle of the first century. It was replaced by a stone building in the second half of the first century and modified often afterwards. There seems to have been some destruction around 270 AD. Afterwards the building continued to be used, but not completely. The villa was abandoned in the middle of the fourth century.
View of some of the remains. Photos: Wikimedia, Roland zh.
Some of the objects found in the villa. Photos: Drack 1979(1), Abb. 26, 27, 28.
Terracotta head of Jupiter, part of a lamp; bronze statuette of Hercules holding the club, found in 1865;
headless terracotta statuette of a mother deity.An enclosing wall around the estate measured 197 x at least 395 m. To the south the villa probably reached the Seeber See, which was reclaimed at the end of the 19th century. Another wall separated the area with the main house (A) from the economy area to the north. In the area with the main house were also two subsidiary buildings (B, E) and separate baths (G). To the north of the house were two corridors (M, N) leading to gates in the dividing wall (O, P). In the economy area were four buildings (C, D, H, J), a nymphaeum (F), and enclosures for cattle (K, L). There were two north-south running paths (S, T) leading from the dividing wall to gates in the enclosing wall (Q, R).
Plan of the villa. Drack-Fellmann 1988, Abb. 511.
A: main house; B, E: subsidiary buildings; C, D, H, J: economy buildings; F: nymphaeum;
G: baths; K, L: enclosures for cattle; M, N: corridors; O, P, Q, R: gates; S, T: paths.
Reconstruction of the villa. Wikimedia, watercolour by Hermann Meyer.
Model of the villa. Photo: Wikimedia, Roland zh.The main house measured 82.40 x 56.70 m. The central part consisted of rooms between two west-east running porticoes and flanking a hall with two rows of piers (later reduced in size). In the west part of the building were bathing rooms around a heating area with as many as five furnaces. On the floors were black-and-white mosaics. In building B (23.80 x 14.10 m.) two furnaces for smoking foodstuffs and a potter's kiln were found. Building E (23 x 14 m.) had a similar plan: rooms around a central hall with two rows of piers. Baths G measured 14.50 x 10.00 m. Two of its rooms had a hypocaust. In buildings A, E and G fragments of glass window panes were found.
Plan of the main house and the separate baths. Drack-Fellmann 1988, Abb. 512.
A: main house; G: baths; M, N: corridors; I: central part; II: western wing with bathing rooms; III: eastern wing.
1: hall; 2: porticus; 3: porticus; 4: heating channels; 5: tower-like projection with round towers on the corners.
View of the bathing rooms in the west wing, seen from the north. Photo: Wikimedia, Paebi - Walter Baur.
View of the bathing rooms in the west wing, seen from the south. Photo: Wikimedia, Roland zh.
Detail of a mosaic in the bathing rooms in the west wing. Photo: Wikimedia, Roland zh.
Reconstruction of a hypocaust, mosaic and painting in the baths in the west wing. Photo: Wikimedia, Roland zh.
Heating channels in the central part of the main house (4). Photo: Wikimedia, Roland zh.Subsidiary building C measured 27.20 x 40.75 m. It could be entered by carts, witness a threshold with grooves. Building D measured 21.00 x 28.10 m. As in building C, parts of horse bridles were found. Buildings H and J were quite small, the former measuring 16 x 16 m. Here remains of a smithy were found, a millstone, a mortar, and a stock of crockery. The round nymphaeum (F) had a diameter of 5.30 m. In the centre was a well, six meters deep (there was no external water supply). In the short entrance corridor and in the "sides" were wide niches. High up in the back wall were two small niches for statuettes. The structure has been called a Celtic water-shrine.
The nymphaeum seen from the north. Photo: Wikimedia, Roland zh.
The nymphaeum seen from the west. Photo: Wikimedia, Roland zh.
Literature
Smith 1978, 154; Drack 1979(1); Drack-Fellmann 1988, 550-555; Drack et al. 1990; Drack-Fellmann 1991, 284; Delbarre-Bärtschi 2014, 280-281.
[10-Apr-2024]
