Vindonissa Museum

Quiz Tour

Price Included in admission 0 Price Museum entrance fee No reservation necessary Good to know Independent tour for children from 7 years on Duration: about 30 to 60 minutes Trough the museum with the

 
Vindonissa Museum

AKTUELL display

Admission: Museum entrance fee Highlights from the Cantonal Archaeology Department The AKTUELL display presents special treasures from the former legionary camp at Vindonissa. A new display is install

 
Wettingen Abbey

Convent garden

Admission: Entrance free 120 English park, kitchen garden and plane tree avenue Discover secluded spots in the convent garden of Wettingen Abbey and stroll through the historic kitchen garden. A walk

 
Wildegg Castle

Living history museum and ancestral portrait gallery

Admission: Museum entrance fee Former castle residents are waiting to chat with visitors! Wildegg Castle is the castle of talking portraits: in the ancestral portrait gallery and the living history mu

 
Wildegg Castle

Hunting and game

Admission: Museum entrance fee Stroke a wild boar! Stroke a wild boar and find out how the lords of Wildegg hunted with birds of prey and dogs around 1800. In the Jagd & Wild (Hunting & Game) exhibiti

 
Hallwyl Castle

Permanent exhibition with mill island

Admission: Museum entrance fee Permanent exhibition on the family and construction history Sowing and reaping, rulers and servants, hopes and prayers: discover the medieval world of the lords of Hallw

 
Lenzburg Castle

Domestic life museum and prison

Admission: Museum entrance fee The museum of domestic life and prison reveal the lives of lords, rogues and scoundrels. The museum of domestic life and prison of Lenzburg Castle reveal the lives of lo

 
Lenzburg Castle

Knighthood and Nobility

Admission: Museum entrance fee The "Knighthood and Nobility" exhibition focuses on the Middle Ages. Medieval fans will find plenty to interest them in the "Knighthood and Nobility" exhibition: discove

 
Lenzburg Castle

History workshop exhibition

Admission: Museum entrance fee Prepare for a military campaign in the history workshop. Prepare for a military campaign in the history workshop, learn the fighting techniques of a knight or play games

 
Lenzburg Castle

Fauchi and the dragon research station

Admission: Museum entrance fee Visit Fauchi, the castle dragon! What would Lenzburg Castle be without Fauchi! The castle dragon is loved by all young visitors. At the dragon research station you can f

Gradian
Erhaltene Wasserleitungen im Legionärspfad Vindonissa

Roman sites

Water system – Aquaeductus

The aqueduct of Vindonissa is the oldest functioning structure in Switzerland and supplied Windisch with drinking water up to 1897. To this day, the Roman water systems are regarded as one of the best-known technical achievements of the ancient world. This roman site can be visited with museum admission.

The aqueduct of Vindonissa now supplies a water fountain, making it the oldest structure in Switzerland that still performs its original function.

Using innovative surveying technology, the legionaries were able to construct the aqueduct over a stretch of 2.4 kilometres with a gradient of just 4‰. The fresh water system supplied water for drinking, cooking and other domestic purposes for some 6,000 legionaries, auxiliary troops, horses and mules. It would not have been possible to live in the legionary camp without this fresh water supply.

The aqueduct is a technological masterpiece: groundwater was captured in an elaborately constructed, subterranean stone channel in Hausen and transported to Windisch. The legionaries used a special watertight mortar to ensure the water was not lost on the way. Once it had arrived in the camp, the fresh water was further distributed in pipes made of clay, lead and wood. Roman engineers applied highly precise surveying methods and ingenious construction techniques to create such facilities. Unknown in this area in pre-Roman times, the aqueduct is regarded as the Roman's most important civilisatory feat - along with their baths and infirmaries.

The water system continued to be used by Königsfelden Monastery in the Middle Ages. The story goes that during construction of the monastery, a monk was "shown by God where water could be found". A document dating back to 1363 provides evidence that the aqueduct was endowed to the monastery by Duke Rudolf IV of Austria. Up until 1897 it was the only supply of drinking water serving the population of Windisch, and even today it feeds the fountain in front of the main building of Königsfelden psychiatric clinic.

This roman site can be visited with museum admission.