AVENCHES was the capital of Roman Switzerland.

After a defeat at the hands of Julius Caesar, the Helvetians founded their new capital of Aventicum in the early first century BC (Aventia was the name of the local Celtic goddess of water).
Emperor Vespasian granted it the status of colony in 72 AD, whereupon Aventicum entered its golden age.
During the second and third centuries, the huge city wall boasted 73 watchtowers, and many of the public buildings of that period– a baths, temples, the amphitheatre, and more – have been excavated.
The Aleman tribes raided the town around 277 AD, and sacked large parts of it; by 450, Aventicum’s glory days were over.

The large oval Roman amphitheatre, crowning the eastern edge of the Old Town, is still there anyway.It was well restored and now is the scene of an annual summer opera festival.

I had been in Avenches a few times already, but this very time I had not any intention to get there.
I was driving my friend Sergey from Estavayer-le-lac to Murten, we were chatting a little and we got a bit trapped in an unexpected diversion for some work in progress on a country road and suddenly we found ourselves in Avenches.

I asked Sergey if he felt like giving a look at the Roman amphitheatre, he accepted my suggestion enthusiastically and we managed to find a place to park.

This is all the little story behind this short series of photos.

The weather was gorgeously bright and the light even too strong for proper photos,nevertheless here is this little gallery.