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Seeking Roman treasures in Avenches

At the end of the 1930s and for much of the Second World War, unemployed workers and interned French and Polish soldiers helped uncover the past of the former Roman capital of Switzerland, Avenches.

Among their discoveries between 1938 and 1943 was a gold bust of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, found in a waste water pipe. But they also helped clear out the city’s old amphitheatre and other sites that can still be seen today (Pictures: Avenches Roman museum)

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR