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Hidden gem3rd – 5th c. ADFree

Kirchlibuck fort, Bad Zurzach

Doppelkastell Kirchlibuck-Sidelen, Römisches Kastell Tenedo, Tenedo

fort · Zurzach District, Aargau, Switzerland

What it is
The Kirchlibuck fort in Bad Zurzach, in the canton of Aargau, was the western half of a late Roman double fort that guarded a bridge over the Rhine on the frontier of the 4th century; a stretch of its south wall with its towers, and the foundations of an early Christian church with its baptismal font, are kept open on the hill (de.wikipedia; the cultural property's Wikidata label).
What you’ll see
On the Kirchlibuck a section of the fort's south wall has been rebuilt or restored and made freely accessible to visitors, and the foundations of the west tower survive; smaller pieces of Roman wall have also been made visible again on the buildings along the Burghaldenweg (de.wikipedia).
Worth the trip?
Yes, as a short stop if you are in the area or following the Rhine: the walls are substantial, free and open, and the church with its font inside the fort is among the oldest church buildings on the High Rhine (de.wikipedia).
Getting there & cost
The fort is on the Kirchlibuck in Bad Zurzach, above the Rhine (de.wikipedia). The Triumph bus stop is mapped about 120 m from the remains, and car parks about 165–170 m (OpenStreetMap).Free · No charge is published or mappedHours, tickets and parking
A broad lawn under shady trees with a small white chapel with a red-roofed bell turret on its far side.
The top of the Kirchlibuck, with the chapel of St. Verena and St. Mauritius. · Photo: Monika Ernst · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Low conserved walls of rough stone rising in steps towards a taller ruined block of masonry, with a flat roof on slender posts behind and trees in spring leaf.
Conserved walls of the fort on the Kirchlibuck. · Photo: Roland Zumbuehl · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Rounded stone foundations of a tower with flattened, capped tops beside a stretch of wall, with houses and a wooden balcony behind.
The conserved base of the south-west round tower (tower XI). · Photo: Walter Biselli · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

What is there today

On the Kirchlibuck a section of the fort’s south wall has been rebuilt or restored and made freely accessible to visitors, and the foundations of the west tower survive; smaller pieces of Roman wall have also been made visible again on the buildings along the Burghaldenweg (de.wikipedia). The restored and conserved parts include a section of the south wall with a horseshoe-shaped tower, the south-east round tower, and the foundations of the church with its baptistery and of a building beside it, interpreted as a priest’s house or a room for those preparing for baptism (de.wikipedia). Photographs from 2014 show stepped, conserved walls, the base of a round tower and a roofed shelter on the site (Wikimedia Commons).

The fort’s walls were up to 3.5 m thick and still stand up to 6 m high in places (de.wikipedia). The church was a square hall of 16 m a side with an apse; its font, set in the floor of a narrow room against the fort wall, measured about 1 m square and 60 cm deep and was later made smaller twice (de.wikipedia). The second fort, on the Sidelen to the east, has disappeared: its stone was taken for houses and the site is built over (de.wikipedia).

Is it worth the trip?

Yes, as a short stop if you are in the area or following the Rhine: the walls are substantial, free and open, and the church with its font inside the fort is among the oldest church buildings on the High Rhine (de.wikipedia). It is not a big site, and OpenStreetMap maps no museum within 300 m.

Getting there

The fort is on the Kirchlibuck in Bad Zurzach, above the Rhine (de.wikipedia). The Triumph bus stop is mapped about 120 m from the remains, and car parks about 165–170 m (OpenStreetMap). The remains are outdoors and open, and no source publishes hours or a charge.

Visiting details

Opening hours
Open-air remains on the hill; de.wikipedia describes the south wall as freely accessible to visitors, and no source publishes hours.
Tickets
No charge is published or mapped.
Parking
Car parks about 165–170 m away (OpenStreetMap, way/509423485; way/509423486 is for customers).

History

Zurzach, Tenedo on the Roman road map, lay where the road from Vindonissa to the upper Danube crossed the Rhine, and an early Roman timber fort and a civilian settlement stood here in the 1st century AD (de.wikipedia). When the frontier fell back to the Rhine in the 3rd century the crossing was fortified again: a fort on the Kirchlibuck and a second one opposite it on the Sidelen, joined by a wall, with a small fort guarding the bridgehead at Rheinheim on the north bank, now in Germany (de.wikipedia). The date of the Kirchlibuck fort is uncertain: it is given both as rebuilt around 315 and as built around or after 360, and either way it is a 4th-century work. Under Valentinian I, around the 370s, the defences were repaired and strengthened and a new bridge was built on stone piers (de.wikipedia).

The church inside the fort was probably built around 400, and its font took its present form in the 5th century; these buildings are among the oldest of their kind on the High Rhine and show Roman Christian life continuing into the Migration Period (de.wikipedia).

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

    13 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).

  • 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

    21 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).

  • Rows of short square brick pillars standing on a floor between low stone walls, with two brick arches set into the wall behind, under a roofed shelter with windows.

    Photo: Nowic · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons

    22 km · bath · Schleitheim District, Schaffhausen

    Iuliomagus

    The Thermenmuseum shows the remains of the Roman baths (de.wikipedia): walls of the bath rooms and rows of small brick pillars, under a roof (Wikimedia Commons photograph).

Straight-line distances.

Sources

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

SourceLicence
Wikidata Q26821526CC0
OpenStreetMap way/1054468269ODbL
Wikipedia (de) — Doppelkastell Kirchlibuck-SidelenCC BY-SA 4.0