Villa rustica of Holheim

A small Roman farmhouse stands in the Maienbach valley near Holheim, just outside Nördlingen. The site was uncovered between 1975 and 1981 and lies within sight of the prehistoric Ofnet caves. The ruins sit at the foot of a long limestone ridge that once carried an Iron Age fort on its crest. Over seventy such farmhouses are known in the region, which served as Raetia’s granary in Roman times. The farm was built by retired legionaries who tilled the land and supplied both civilians and the army with grain. Excavations revealed a millstone, a bath-house, five outbuildings and a courtyard wall nearly a metre high. The main house had no grand façade, simple stone foundations and a timber roof held by iron nails. No hypocaust or cellar was found, but glass windows show the owners lived comfortably. Visitors walk among the exposed foundations of the villa, bath and storehouses. The main building once overlooked the courtyard from a gentle slope, its downhill side rising to two storeys. Finds include a silver-eyed satyr figurine and two military brooches, now displayed in Nördlingen’s town museum. A dark layer of burning marks the violent end of the farm around the mid-third century.