To round off the season, we harvested grapes and trod them at the Roman Villa Rustica on the Weilberg in Bad Dürkheim at the start of October. In truly glorious October weather, we headed out to the vineyard three times a day to pick grapes together with the audience and take them to the reconstructed Roman wine press. There, the grapes were then trodden straight away to extract the grape juice. The grape treading was accompanied by Roman music, a good sip of wine and, above all, expert commentary that explained each step in detail to the audience. One of the presentations also included a ritual ceremony to invoke the protection of the gods for the grape harvest. In addition, we had set up a small military camp and several civilian tents at the partially reconstructed manor house, where visitors could gain a wide range of further insights into Roman life – from a field smithy, through weaving and bone carving, to bathing practices.

(6.10.2026)