Garden of Ruins

The Romkert, or Garden of Ruins, preserves a stretch of Roman Savaria right behind the cathedral. You walk over original mosaic floors of the imperial palace, a stretch of the Amber Road, and the foundations of a late-antique basilica.

It is one of the more substantial Roman sites in Hungary — modest compared to Aquincum in Budapest, but unusual in that it sits in the middle of a working city centre. A small admission applies. Allow an hour.

things to do sight
A story
Szombathely was Roman Savaria, capital of Upper Pannonia and birthplace of Saint Martin of Tours around 316 AD. The mosaic floors visible here were uncovered during cathedral construction in the 1790s — meaning the bishop's builders were digging directly into the streets the saint had walked.

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