Archaeoastronomy in ancient Helvetia: the theater, the temple and the city of Aventicum (Avenches)

Abstract

This article presents our discovery of the astronomical orientation of the city of Aventicum, the capital of ancient Roman Helvetia, where the sacred complex formed by the Temple of the Cigognier and the Theater were oriented along the axis that links the sunset of the Summer Solstice and the sunrise of the Winter Solstice. Also the East and West doors of the city were astronomically oriented on the axis that links the sunrise of the Summer Solstice and the sunset of the Winter Solstice. On July 13th, 2017 I had the fortune to visit two extraordinary Roman sites in Switzerland, Avenches and Vallon, together with friend Cristiano Castelletti, a great scholar as well as an excellent journalist of the Swiss-Italian Radio. This article is dedicated to his memory, because unfortunately Cristiano passed away in 2017, leaving a great void for us all.

Keywords

• archaeoastronomy
• ancient roman religion
• roman calendar
• helvetia
• roman architecture
• avenches or aventicum