Avenches - Aventicum (Roman excavations)

(Local Name: Musée Romain) Avenches occupies the site of the old capital of the Helveti and the Roman town of Aventicum, which had its heyday in the first and second centuries A.D., when it had a population of some 20,000; it was destroyed by the Alemanni about 260. The excavated remains of the Roman town can be seen to the east of modern Avenches: a theater (semicircular in form, with a diameter of 106 m/348ft) which could seat 10,000 spectators; the "Tornallaz", the only surviving remnant of the town's 6km/4mi circuit of walls; the remains of the Forum baths; and a 12 m/40ft high Corinthian column, probably from the Forum, known as the Cigognier from the stork's nest which formerly crowned it. The numerous finds from the site are displayed in a museum adjoining the amphitheater.