Avenches – Roman Museum – Permanent Exhibition

Ground Floor The Gallo-Roman Population of Switzerland and Their View of Death
The Extraordinary Finds at the Necropolis of En Chaplix
Between AD 23 and 28, a first funerary monument was erected on the other side
of the road.
Around AD 40, a second monument (1) was built on an adjacent fenced-in piece
of land.
From the second half of the 1st century AD onwards, a necropolis was set up and
enclosed by ditches in the immediate surroundings of the funerary monuments.
The graves date mainly from the 2nd century AD, but some were still being added at
the beginning of the 3rd century.
In the second half of the 2nd century AD, two capstones from the wall
surrounding the funerary monuments were used to mark the tombs of the
necropolis, a sign that the site began to fall into disuse and that the veneration of
the deceased may have been abandoned.
Towards the end of the 3rd century (?), the two monuments were dismantled in
order to recover the stones.
The Two Funerary Monuments of En Chaplix
Between AD 23 and 40, two funerary monuments (mausoleums), 23 and 25 m high,
were erected along the main road leaving Aventicum through the northeast gate.
Their architecture and decoration was inspired by Greco-Roman examples.
From these Jura limestone constructions, enclosed by brick walls, only the
foundations and a few hundred scattered elements are preserved. Towards the
end of the Roman Empire the monuments had probably already been dismantled
by people salvaging construction material. Architectural pieces and sculptures
considered unsuitable for reuse were left behind.
The mausoleums were of similar height and consisted of three tiers. The base
was a massive semicircular podium bearing an inscription, which is lost today. The
inscription contained the names of the deceased and the highpoints of their military,
political and professional careers. The identity of these noblemen will probably
remain a mystery forever. The main tier consisted of an aedicule with columns, which
sheltered three statues of the deceased and their families. The person in the middle
was always slightly taller than the other two. The top tier consisted of a pyramidshaped
spire decorated with scales carved into the stone. The image would have
been imposing to passers-by at the time. The harmonious lines cleverly drew the
attention of the onlookers towards the aedicule and the statues.
The decoration of the two monuments demonstrated strong Hellenistic
influence. Although no traces of colour have been found, it cannot be ruled out that
certain parts were painted, as this was the case with other similar monuments.
The enclosures guaranteed peace for the deceased and were perhaps arranged
as gardens and decorated with statues. They afforded families a place to carry out
commemorative ceremonies and funerary banquets. No grave for either of these
1
B. Gubler Zurich
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Ground Floor