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The garrisons at the Main Limes
Heimatmuseum Stockstadt am Main
German Limes Road (Deutsche Limesstraße)
The Limes cycle path runs by the museum.
Walking route "Kulturweg Aschaffenburg 4"
Park at the Mainbogen
At the time of the Reichs-Limeskommission's excavations southeast of the medieval town centre the cohort fort was located in terrain that had not been built upon. It lies downriver at the curve of the Main by Aschaffenburg. At this point the straight-running Limes road meets the Main once again.
The fort area once included several forts, civilian settlements, a
harbour, and a beneficiarius
station. Today the paper company Sappi Stockstadt GmbH is
located on the site.
To the north of the railroad tracks there was a 0.3 ha large
fortlet,
built around 90 AD. This is considered to be the oldest military
building. Another wooden fort of unknown size, also built before
100 AD, was probably used as a temporary construction camp for the
"cohors III
Aquitanorum equitata civium Romanorum".
Around 100 AD the cohort
fort was build as an earth-and-timber construction. In the
mid-2nd century it was expanded in stone.
The "vicus"
spread out along the Main, where remains of a harbour were
discovered. The shore of the antique Main was c. 100m inland of the
current location. At the Main there were also the fort bath, a
beneficiarius
station that monitored ships on the river, and many temples and
shrines, including two mithraeums
(Mithraeum I and Mithraeum II).
Cemeteries were found north of the railroad tracks.
Fortlet around 90 AD; earth-and-timber fort before 100 AD;
cohort
fort from 100 AD.
4th century inhumation graves (Schönberger
1954).
Category: fort, fortlet, canabae / vicus, mithraeum, shrine, bath/baths, hidden treasure, kiln, cemetery, harbour, beneficiarius station
Fortlet 0.3 ha. Cohort fort 3.2 ha. "Vicus" with Mithraeum I, Mithraeum II, Dolichenus shrine, Fortuna shrine, Nymphs shrine; several pottery kilns. Brick ovens. Fort bath. Ship dock. Beneficiarius station. Cemeteries with ustrina.
Current State: Completely built over; the Alte Stadtweg approximates the path of the Roman road that ran from the northern fort gate. The fort bath was reconstructed in 1968 in the Nilkheimer Park.
Monument Protection: Yes - UNESCO World Heritage Site, 2005
Presentation: A signboard is located at the crossing of Wallstadter Straße and Obernburger Straße.
Research: The Stockstadt military buildings are among the most thoroughly researched buildings at the Main Limes. The location was discovered through research conducted by the Limeskommission beginning in 1895 (W. Conrady, published by Fr. Drexel). Emergency excavations were carried out before the construction of the paper factory from 1897-1907 under the engineer C. Wirth. The excavations in 1963 and 1968 brought more information about the military location to light.
Literature
ORL A, 3, 6, Nr.
33. Drexel 1910.
Barthel 1910.
Hilzheimer
1924. Schleiermacher
1928. Kunkel 1952.
Schönberger
1954. Rattinger-Schneider
1959. Kellner 1963.
Baatz 1969.
Baatz-Herrmann
1982, 233f. Schönberger
1985, 465, D 63. Oldenstein-Pferdehirt 1983.
Sommer 1988,
693. Wamser 1990.
Bavarian State Conservation Office – Landesstelle für die nichtstaatlichen Museen & Bavarian State Archaeological Collection with the support of the Bayerische Sparkassenstiftung