Reformed church of Saint Arbogast, Romanesque church in Oberwinterthur, Switzerland
The Reformed Church of Saint Arbogast is a basilica in Oberwinterthur featuring stone walls and Romanesque architectural elements that form a clear, structured shape. The building displays construction techniques that are typical of religious structures from this period.
The oldest surviving parts of St. Arbogast date from the 10th century; the three-aisled Romanesque basilica was built around 1258/1259. It stands on the site of the Roman vicus Vitudurum, over a 2nd-century Gallo-Roman temple and near the foundations of Diocletian's fortification wall of 294. The church was first documented in 1155, when Frederick I confirmed the bishop of Konstanz's holdings, including the court in Winterthur with its church.
The patron is Saint Arbogast, the first Frankish bishop of Strasbourg, who around 540/550 reorganized the diocese and had a new cathedral built. A legend recorded only in the 10th century made him a friend of King Dagobert I and credited him with raising the king's son Sigibert after a hunting accident. The wall paintings, made by around 1320, are the earliest evidence of the dedication to Arbogast.
The church stands on a spur above the Roman vicus Vitudurum, on the site of a former Gallo-Roman temple; the tower and choir corners rest on the Roman fortification wall completed in 294 AD. The address is Hohlandstrasse 5 in Oberwinterthur. The parish area once reached as far as Seen, Töss and parts of Seuzach and Veltheim.
The church stands on a spur above the ruins of the Roman vicus Vitudurum. Under its western half lie the foundations of a 2nd-century Gallo-Roman temple, and the northeast corners of tower and choir rest on the Roman defensive wall completed in 294 under Diocletian.
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