EUROMED POSTAL - Ancient cities of Mediterranean, Ajdovščina

Euromed Postal – Maritime Archaeology or Antique Cities of the Mediterranean

AJDOVŠČINA – CASTRA – ROMAN FORTRESS

The Roman fortress of Castra (mutatio Castra) was built in the third century AD along the road connecting Aquileia and Ljubljana (Emona). It stood at the confluence of two streams, the Hubelj and the Lokavšček, on the site of an earlier Roman settlement, and was an important administrative and commercial centre of the Vipava Valley. The fortress was of an irregular oval shape and surrounded by strong walls with at least 14 towers.  The fortress was part of the defensive system known as Claustra Alpium Iuliarum (Barrier of the Julian Alps), within which it had supply and command functions and housed a permanent garrison.

During archaeological investigations in the old town centre, the architectural remains of the walls were discovered, complete with towers and a defensive moat on the western and southern sides. In the town’s main square, the remains of a large building complex were found at the side of the main road that once traversed the fortress. Other important structures include an even larger monumental building and Roman baths in the southern part of the fortress. Outside the walls, a burial ground belonging to the fortress has been partially investigated. The small archaeological finds at the site indicate the good integration of the settlement within the trading network of the Roman Empire and the fortress’s continued existence until the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD. The late medieval and early modern settlements on this site developed within the walls of the Roman Castra and the town did not expand beyond the walls until the end of the nineteenth century.

The stamp shows a renovated section of the fortress walls that has been incorporated into the garden of a late medieval mansion, along with the architectural remains of the fortress in the ground plan of Ajdovščina’s old town centre.

Patricija Bratina

Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, Nova Gorica Regional Unit