The Gallo-Romain museum

The Gallo-Roman Museum in Biesheim is exclusively dedicated to the site of the Roman military camp set up on the west bank of the Rhine River north of Neuf-Brisach. International teams of archaeologists have conducted extensive excavations on the 200 hectares (500 acres) of this exceptional site extending over the communes of Biesheim and Kunheim. Due to its privileged position on the Rhine River, it played a major role in the Romanisation of temperate Europe in the 1st century A.D. as well as in the fall of the Roman Empire following the barbarian invasions in the 5th century. The outlay of the site is nowadays clearly defined: a vicus (settlement) which grew up between two centers of military occupation comprising a vexillation fortress dating from the 1st Century A.D., used as a base for the conquest of the agri-decumates (tithe-paying fields) along the Danube and the Rhine Rivers, and a palace-fortress in the 4th century A.D. The collections, supplemented by many information panels, are focused on three topics: military and commercial activities (stamped tiles, offensive and defensive weapons, coins, amphoras, an extremely rare silver ingot) - burial and religious rites (a sandstone sarcophagus, funerary artifacts, the remains of a temple dedicated to the Iranian God Mithras) - everyday life (jewels, utilitarian dishes or precious tableware, craft industry, various utensils as well as an intaglia unique for its size and the quality of the engraving). Recent finds are displayed in a special area.