Description : The area was already populated during the Latène period (5th – 1st century BC). The oldest documented settlement was probably one since the second half of the 2nd century BC. Large Celtic settlement fortified on the narrow peninsula. She must have been one of the twelve Oppida of Helvetii mentioned by Julius Caesar . From the Gallo-Roman era, in which it is understood as a Roman city quarter ( Vicus ), were inter alia. excavated a small amphitheater and thermal bath . An important find from the Helvetic settlement is the Bern zinc plate . The walls of the amphitheater, measuring 27.55 by 25.30 meters, were discovered in 1880 and initially interpreted as a water reservoir. Immediately next to it was a powder tower built in 1738 and since 1763 surrounded by a high sandstone wall. Only when it had to give way to the construction of the Matthäuskirche ( tetrahedron shape, stepped angular tower, parish hall Rossfeld ) at Reichenbachstrasse 114 in 1955 did the original function of the Roman masonry become recognizable.
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