History
Carnuntum was one of the historically most important settlements of the Romans in Austria
who appreciated the climatically favored area East of Vienna. They built a city
with a legionary camp on the Northern border of the Roman Empire at the crossing
of amber route and limes route, nowadays the location of the villages of
Petronell-Carnuntum und Bad Deutsch Altenburg.
The city of Carnuntum was capitol of the Roman province of Upper Pannonia and
had a population of 50.000 people in its heyday. The remains of a 2-storey 4-pier
construction known as the "Heidentor" as well as the extensive archaeological
excavations in Petronell and Carnuntum give evidence of this time.
It is a well known fact that the Romans loved battle and honor, but even more so
loved wine. Consequently, they put much effort into viticulture. During the reign
of emperor Probus in the 3. century AD, who ended the Italian monopoly on wine and
had the vineyards planted all along the river Danube, Carnuntum entered the first
golden age of viticulture.
From then on this tradition was honored as it is by the growers and wine producers
in the region today.