document legion camp wall Regensburg

The camp of the 3rd Italic Legion in Regensburg (Castra Regina) was completed in 179 AD under Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It was built on a rectangular base of 540 x 450 meters. The fort was enclosed by a mighty wall of large ashlars with towers and a wide moat in front. An imposing gateway led into the interior on all four sides.

The legionary camp housed up to 6000 soldiers and was surrounded by an extensive camp suburb for the civilian population. In the 3rd century, this settlement area extended in places even slightly beyond the area of the later medieval city. Outside the camp suburb with its residential and commercial buildings, stores, villas, sanctuaries and a large bathing complex (thermal baths) were burial grounds to the south and along a road to the east.

The traces of the Roman-period buildings lie underground, but relics of the legionary camp's fortifications are openly visible. The northern gate, the Porta Praetoria, which is still standing in parts, is the largest preserved structure of the Roman period in Bavaria. But especially on the eastern side of the legionary camp, longer sections show remains of the Roman ashlar wall. Its impressive sections here in the Dachauplatz parking garage and at the northeast and southeast corners of the former Roman fort form the freely accessible "document Legionslagermauer". During the construction of the parking garage, a long section of the Roman wall was uncovered and conserved in the basement. In an impressive staging, it has presented itself since 2013 with multimedia didactics as the central point for this "document".

The large ashlar wall of the legionary camp also protected the early medieval city after the Romans left in the 5th century. Since the eastern side of the Roman wall served as a city wall even in the High Middle Ages and was repaired accordingly, large areas of the old ashlar wall have been preserved here. However, the uneven construction also shows that the camp wall had already been rebuilt in Roman times.

Admission is free of charge.

Tourist Information
Old City Hall, Rathausplatz 4
93047 Regensburg
Phone +49 941 507-4410
tourismus@regensburg.de