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Hidden gem1st – 2nd c. ADUnknown

Roman villa of Sarmenstorf

Römervilla Murimooshau, Römischer Gutshof Sarmenstorf

villa · Bremgarten District, Aargau, Switzerland

What it is
The Roman villa of Sarmenstorf, the Römervilla Murimooshau above the village in the canton of Aargau, was a farming estate of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD; its bath wing, with the pillars of its underfloor heating, is kept under a shelter in the woods.
What you’ll see
Only the bath wing is still visible: after the excavations every other wall was covered over again, and the baths are protected by a shelter (Municipality of Sarmenstorf).
Worth the trip?
Only as a short detour if you are walking in the area and like Roman engineering: the heating system is clearly laid out, but the site is small, and the municipality publishes no access arrangements, so check before going whether the shelter can be entered or only looked into.
Getting there & cost
The villa stood east of and above the village of Sarmenstorf (de.wikipedia). No car park or public-transport stop is mapped within 300 m (OpenStreetMap), and no source publishes opening times or a charge.Unknown · No charge is published or mappedHours, tickets and parking
Low walls of rubble stone forming small rooms under an open timber roof, with rows of short square brick pillars standing in one room and tile slabs laid over pillars in another.
The bath wing under its shelter, with the pillars of its underfloor heating. · Photo: Adrian Michael · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A close view of short stacks of square red bricks standing in a sunken room, some carrying large flat tiles, framed by rough stone walls.
Brick pillars and floor tiles of the heating system. · Photo: Adrian Michael · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A wide hipped tile roof on timber posts in a wood, surrounded by a wire-mesh fence, with a path running alongside.
The shelter over the bath wing. · Photo: Adrian Michael · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

What is there today

Only the bath wing is still visible: after the excavations every other wall was covered over again, and the baths are protected by a shelter (Municipality of Sarmenstorf). They had a hypocaust underfloor heating and hollow tiles set into the walls, through which hot air circulated (the municipality). Photographs from 2019 show low stone walls forming small rooms, rows of short brick pillars, and tiles laid over some of them, under an open timber roof surrounded by a fence (Wikimedia Commons).

Is it worth the trip?

Only as a short detour if you are walking in the area and like Roman engineering: the heating system is clearly laid out, but the site is small, and the municipality publishes no access arrangements, so check before going whether the shelter can be entered or only looked into.

Getting there

The villa stood east of and above the village of Sarmenstorf (de.wikipedia). No car park or public-transport stop is mapped within 300 m (OpenStreetMap), and no source publishes opening times or a charge.

Visiting details

Opening hours
The municipality publishes no opening times or access arrangements; the bath wing is under a fenced shelter (Wikimedia Commons photograph).
Tickets
No charge is published or mapped.

Before you go

  • No car park or public-transport stop is mapped within 300 m (OpenStreetMap).

History

A villa in the Roman period was a farming estate: a main house where the owner lived, farm buildings, and housing for workers and slaves (the municipality). The few finds date the estate at Sarmenstorf to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. It was first excavated by parish clergy in the 19th century and again in 1927 by the Historische Vereinigung Seetal (the municipality).

Nearby

  • A gravel passage between massive walls of squared stone leading into a grassy oval arena, with more walls and a grass bank on the far side and a row of poplars behind.

    Photo: Roland zh · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons

    20 km · fort · Brugg District, Aargau

    Vindonissa

    The Legionärspfad, run by Museum Aargau, is the way into the camp: eleven stations through its excavated sites, among them the amphitheatre, reconstructed legionaries' barracks, a gate, the baths and a Roman garden of 450 m² planted with some 40 species documented by archaeology (the operator).

  • A large mosaic floor of black and white geometric patterns, stars and rosettes filling a bright room with arched windows, a railing along one side and a framed building plan on the wall.

    Photo: Minnou · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons

    24 km · villa · Zofingen District, Aargau

    Roman villa of Zofingen

    Three well-preserved mosaic floors, with chequerboard, lozenge and trapezoid patterns and floral motifs, are kept visible in two matching classical shelters (Canton of Aargau Denkmalpflege).

  • The low stone walls of a small room around a floor of grey mortar, crossed by an X of narrow channels edged with stones and brick, with grass and loose stone blocks beyond.

    Photo: Roland zh · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons

    30 km · villa · Bülach District, Zurich

    Roman estate of Seeb

    The ruins were excavated between 1958 and 1969 and partly conserved (the welcome board; it.wikipedia has systematic excavation from 1963 to 1970).

Straight-line distances.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from the records below, each used under the licence noted.

SourceLicence
Wikidata Q29580665CC0
OpenStreetMap node/1104659103ODbL
Wikipedia (de) — Römervilla MurimooshauCC BY-SA 4.0
Municipality of Sarmenstorf — Römervilla Murimooshaulicence not recorded