page_title: Dominicans Island
section_title: Roman History
hierarchical_section_title: Dominicans Island / History / Roman History
context_page_description: The Dominican Island or Constance Island is an island in Lake Constance immediately east of the city of Constance. With an area of 1.8 hectares, it is one of the smaller islands in the lake. The island is separated from the city center by a six-metre-wide channel, and connected to it by a bridge. The island is dominated by the Steigenberger hotel, which is housed in the former Dominican convent.
context_section_description: The Roman rule in the area around Lake Constance started in the year 15 CE with the conquest of Augustus.  The Celtic oppidum was destroyed.  The area then belonged to the province Raetia until the end of Roman rule around the year 400.
  In the year 207, Emperor Severus sent governor Constantine into the area.  Constantine set up his headquarters in Pfyn in today's Thurgau.  He also set up a well-fortified hunting lodge on Dominican Island.  He granted freedom of trade, which led to  settlement forming around his hunting lodge, forming an additional layer of protection against his enemies, who included Alman von Stoffen, a Hungarian ruler, and an early Bavarian Duke.  Although one could consider this Roman settlement as the earliest beginning of the City of Constance, the city was not named after this Constantine, but a 4th century emperor.  Constantine was killed in an accident with a frightened horse and his enemies destroyed the castle and drove away most of the inhabitants of the island.
  The castle was probably rebuilt subsequently.  However, when the Alemanni expelled the Romans in the late 4th and early 5th centuries, the castle was destroyed again, so people would not be reminded of the hated Roman rule.
caption: In this engraving by Merian of 1633, the Dominican island  with the monastic buildings can be recognized in the right foreground.  At that time, the island was nearly square and could be reached using narrow bridge leading to a tower of the city wall
exif: {}