Long before the castle, the Romans knew this place as Eburodunum, the main river-and-lake port north of the Alps. Around 325 AD, to guard it against Alemanni raids, they ringed the town in a castrum of two hectares, walled with fifteen stone towers. They withdrew around 405, and over the centuries the fort came down; the last of it was cleared away in 1860 to let the modern town grow.
What’s left, and how to see it
Be honest with yourself before you go: not much stands today, just a few vestiges among the streets of the centre. What makes it worth a short stop is the tourism office’s free augmented-reality app, which rebuilds the walls and towers over the site on your phone as you walk. And the fort’s real treasures are indoors: two exceptionally preserved Roman boats, raised from the ground nearby, now in the regional museum inside the Château d’Yverdon.
Practical notes
- Free and open-air, at any hour; about 15 minutes on site, best with the AR app.
- A short, flat walk in the old town.
- See the tourism office’s castrum page (linked above) for the app and the route.
Combine it
It pairs naturally with the Château d’Yverdon and its Roman boats, a few minutes away, and the town’s history tells the fuller story of Eburodunum.
