Text, model and photo: Heinz Birkenheuer

Drawing: Konstantin Koenen

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4. Public Utilities

4. 2 VALETUDINARIUM - The Legionary Hospital

The VALETUDINARIUM was one of the most important facilities in the fortress. This was the military hospital, which was the first stone-built grand-hospital in our region. It contained 60 wards to host approx. 300 sick people. There was a surgery hall in the size of approx. 550 m2 with an atrium facing to the South, surrounded by three connected rows of rooms. The wards provided enough space to take care of approx. 300 people. Each row of wards was aligned along a corridor. Three rooms each formed a group of three. This combination of 3 rooms was not found a second time within the entire fortress

Ground-plan of VALETUDINARIUM
Drawing:Constantien Koenen

The wards got a large-scale ventilation system to avoid infections. The patients could use the protected atrium to relax, depending on the stage of their decease and on the weather conditions. There was one building in the Southern part of the atrium that was connected to the central waste water system, and we suppose that this used to be a bathhouse or water closet for the patients.

Reconstruction of VALETUDINARIUM
Model and photo: Heinz Birkenheuer