1. The visible ruins of the Aquincum Civil Town represent the excavated one third of the central settlement. The structure of the Aquincum Civil Town was greatly influenced by both the area's natural geography and its previous architectural history. The limes road running from north to south was a typical element in the town's layout since its very beginnings. The aquaeductus built along its western side was a similarly characteristic feature. Irregularities in the line of the city wall, reinforded by bastillons on its western side, may be attributed to the network of drainage ditches and some buildings that were probably erected before the wall's construction. The city wall was interrupted by gates where it intersected with the main streets. Such gates could be identified by excavations in the north, south and west. The oval amphitheater, located outside the city wall to the north, was also a characteristic feature that defined the look of the city. As previously mentioned, ruins of the Aquincum Civil Town exhibited in the park around the museum, represent the excavated ca. one third of the settlement. The monuments visible today reflect the results of restoration work carried out between the early 1960's and the beginning of the 1970's. Most of the exhibited site plans show the situation that was characteristic of the town at the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Aside from the aforementioned elements (amphitheater, moat, city wall) these ruins suggest a rather chaotic layout with only traces of some conscious guiding principles. Because the Civil town has only been partially recovered, most data originate from its eastern section. In this area, the existence of insulae of varying sizes may be hyporthesized. These were built along the eastern side of the aquaeductus and the limes road and date to the beginning of the AD 2nd century, before the settlement became a municipium. Some of the predominantly public buildings that stood along the limes road were already standing at that time while elements of urban infrastructure (drainage, water conduits, stone paved streets) were already in existence. The town's forum was built at the crossing of the main street that ran in a north to south and an east to west directions. The relatively small size of this forum was in accordance with the local conditions. Subsequent urban development resulted in the expansion of the forum's function, effecting neighboring buildings in the area. A forum quarters was formed to which the shrine of the Imperial cult, the basilica, the great public baths and a row of tabernae belonged. In the southeastern and northern sections of the Civil Town, somewhat away from the main street, lived craftspeople whose workshops (textile dying, bronze manufacturing) were located there as well. Away from the noisy main street were built the ornate houses of affluent citizens and city administrators. These were equipped with domestic shrines and private baths. The town itself was surrounded by an industrial district. Pottery workshops operated along the main roads and the Danube waterway. Beginning with the AD 3rd century, the east to west main street that served as a link to the Danube, became increasingly important. This is indicative of invigorated trading along this line. It was at this time that the meat market (macellum) was also built in the proximity of the forum. The previously loose settlement structure was replaced by a more tightly built pattern indicative of an increased population density. The long lots separated by narrow alleys were reminiscent of oriental urban settlements. Meanwhile habitation quarters and a inn with a bath wing were erected outside the city wall. Their ornate exterior was supposed to show the affluence and sophistication of the town at the time. Aside from sporadic reparations of the fortification system and on some buildings, the ancient Christian cella trichora seems to have been the only newly erected building in the Civil Town. Buildings that formed the central core of the Civil Town are represented in the ruin park situated around the museum.

The Civil Town amphitheater is located at the point where Szentendrei Street and Zsófia Street cross. This is the smaller of the two amphitheaters in Aquincum. It was built outside the city wall around the middle of the AD 2nd century. The plan of this round building is elliptical, its axes measuring 85.5 and 75.5 m respectively. The space between its outer and inner walls was filled with pounded earth. The audience could reach their places through two arched gates. The grand stand of the Civil Town amphitheater was sub-divided into wedge-shaped sectors. Four to seven thousand people could be seated here to enjoy theater performances, sports events, and animal fights combined with the participation of gladiators. Since this building could accomodate the greatest number of people of any structure in the entire town, it was also used in organizing public events of major importance. These included political rallies, municipal celebrations as well as speeches delivered during the emperor's visit. The barracks of the gladiators stood near the amphitheater where fighters used in the ever popular games were taught and trained.

The fort's eastern gate, the Porta praetoria, is one of the four entrances to the fortress. Its currently reconstructed form shows the 3rd-4th century situation. This was the main gate through which the main street, the via praetoria, with columns lining both sides, lead to the fortress' center. The gate house with three apertures (the middle one for carts, the two others for pedestrian traffic) was reinforced by two two-storey, octogonal towers at its sides.

The northern city wall and gate formed part of the fortification system that was built, at latest, during the first half of the AD 2nd century. The rectangular area surrounded by the city wall could be accessed through gates that opened in all four directions. Of these, the northern gate and adjacent wall sections have been reconstructed. At this point, one can see both the moat that followed the wall and the remains of a water conduit that crossed the wall at this point.

The fort's southern gate, Porta principalis dextra, may be seen within the reconstructed section of the fortress' southern wall which is located at the southwestern exit of the Flórián Square pedestrian subway. The reconstructed form of the porta principalis dextra seen here was built during the second half of the AD 2nd century. The multi-storey oblong gatehouses enclose two entrances which are 3.5 m wide each. This building had been repaired and rebuilt several times. The eastern gate opening was walled in at the beginning of the AD 4th century so that traffic could pass only through the remaining western entrance.

The public baths of the legionary fortress, the Thermae Maiores, were discovered during the first excavations in Aquincum in 1778 when one of the bath's halls came to light. István Schönvisner, the director of these investigations, published his results in the same year under the title "De Ruderibus Caldariique Romani". Soon after its recovery, this section of the baths was displayed to the public in a special protective construction. Today, the baths of the Aquincum legion are known almost in their entirety known. These ruins may be visited in the Bath Museum that opens from the Flórián Square pedestrian subway. Within the walls of these baths that opened to the fortresses main roads on two sides, one could pursue all sorts of physical activities as well as body cleansing. A gymnasium, pools with cold, lukewarm and hot water, a sweat chamber and spacious, centrally heated halls served the refreshment and fitness of soldiers. Due to technical difficulties the Bath Museum is temporarily closed.

Ruins of the military barracks and shrine belonged to the legionary fortress. The barracks were built in the 2nd century. Following several reconstructions it functioned only as a shrine. A medieval Franciscan church was built over the ruins of this Roman Period feature.

The Hercules villa belongs to the row of decorated palaces, baths, sanctuaries and habitations that stood along the riverbank across from the Governor's Palace. They may be considered part of the governmental complex that belonged to the representative building of the Governor's Palace. They occupied the northeastern and northern edge of the former Military Town. These buildings housed provincial offices although the homes of high ranking administrators were also located here. One of these residences is the so-called Hercules Villa located in Meggyfa Street. The central core of this building must have been built during the first half of the AD 2nd century. At the beginning of the third century, when most probably the official administration was moved to the "officers' houses" in the Military Town, this building was expanded, equiped with floor-heating and decorated with mosaic floors. In the three adjacent habitation rooms, most of these mosaic floors collapsed into the channels of the hypocaust heating system. Only details of the Pannonian made geometric framing motif survived in the two southern rooms, while in the third, the greater half of an emblem was recovered. This section, showing the fight between Hercules and Nessos the Centaur, formed a central field in the floor. It is likely that this mosaic was made in an Alexandrian workshop. To date, it is the only known imported mosaic not only in Aquincum but anywhere in Pannonia. The floor of the tablinum shows a merry and tipsy Dionysean thiasos. In the surviving section, Amor offers a bunch of grapes to an approaching tigress. Mosaic floors decorated the separate baths as well. The mosaic that covered the apodyterium floor is almost intact. It shows a pair of boxers. The winner assumes a victorious posture flexing his muscles, after his bloody headed opponent collapsed following a knock-out. The walls were decorated with frescoes. Door- and windowframes, stucco niches and sills were ornamented with flowers. Reconstructions of some of the most typical motifs are on exhibit in the tablinum. Excavations of the highest quality buildings in Aquincum and Pannonia Inferior, although are far from all have been excavated, have already yielded numerous mosaic floors, wall paintings and stucco remains. Of all these, in situ examples are exhibited in the Meggyfa Street Hercules Villa. Since the mid 1980's, however, the restoration of mosaic floors and wall paintings brought to light in another building in Folyamor street has also been carried out, to the extent possible given limited finances. Most of the restored specimens are on display in the permanent exhibit of the Aquincum Museum.

The cella trichora is the ancient Christian grave chapel which forms part of the assemblage of monuments presented at the conjunction of Körte - Hunor Street and Raktár Streets. In addition to this grave chapel built around AD 360, ruins representing several periods of the preceding 2nd-3rd century Military Town are on display. These buildings opened to the Roman road that was the precusor of modern-day Hunor Street. Today's Vörösvári Street is the precusort of the road that left the fortress from its eastern gate (porta decumana). Hunor Street runs parallel to this, although it began in the northwestern corner of the fortress.

The Táborvárosi Múzeum architectural remains are exhibited in the southern section of the Military Town. The eastern half of this habitation block, renovated several times during the 2nd-3rd centuries, followed a classical pattern. A guesthouse, or deversorium,was probably located in its western section. Due to technical difficulties, this small museum currently cannot be visited. The restored wall painting recovered from this building showing a hunting scene is exhibited in the Palace of the Buda Castle.

The Governor's Palace was the seat of legatus Augusti in Aquincum, the capital of Pannonia Inferior. The province of Pannonia was divided into two sections in AD 106. This greatly contributed to the development of the Military Town. The Governor's Palace was built on today's Hajógyár Island. Located in the northeastern corner of the canabae, facing the Barbaricum across the Danube its mere position demonstrated the power and monumentality of Rome. The Governor's Palace, decorated with wall paintings and mosaic floors, was recovered during excavations on Hajógyár Island. Following the reburial of its ruins, a shipyard functioned in the area until the beginning of the 1990's. The palace, surrounded by walls, included the residence of the Imperial legate (governor), the halls built for representation, as well as economic units and storage facilities. The palace was erected east of the canabae beyond the Little Duna branch. It was probably connected to the mainland, that is modern-day Óbuda, by a bridge. Three construction periods could be observed during the course of excavations. The earliest buildings date to the beginning of the AD 2nd century when Hadrianus, who subsequently became emperor, served as the first governor of Pannonia Inferior. The largest scale constructions, however were undertaken at the end of the AD 2nd and during the 3rd century. In the last third of the 3rd century the palace had to be abandoned due to increases in the level of the Danube. The central, inner courtyard of the palace was surrounded by rooms on four sides. The functions of these, numbering almost one hundred, have been identified. Elite rooms of the representative unit were located on the eastern side. A reception hall lay in the middle, with floor-heated rooms being symmetrically aligned along its two sides. The main facade of the 75 m wide, porticus-decorated palace also stood on this side with a column-lined corridor on its first floor. The corner turrets of this facade looked onto the small, inner port. Habitation quarters and bathing facilities with a water tower were built in the palace's northern wing. Service rooms and stores were located in the southern parts of the palace. The shrine of the emperor cult stood in the middle of the inner courtyard. The fragmented statue of an emperor discovered here may be seen in the Aquincum Museum.

The amphitheater of the Military Town has an elliptical shape. It was built taking advantage of a natural depression that also existed during the Roman Period. On the basis of recent excavation results, this low-lying area must have been used as excercise grounds by the Roman military as early as the AD 1st century. According to a construction inscription currently stored in the lapidarium of the Aquincum Museum, the fortress must have been rebuilt in stone around AD 145 by the enginnering unit of legio II Adiutrix, during the reign of the Emperor Antoninus Pius. The two axes of the grand stand's external walls measured 131.8 and 108.4 m respectively. The two main gates were located in the line of the long axis oriented northeast-southwest. The animal cages (carcer) were located at the end-points of the short axis. Similarly to other amphitheaters built in the Danube region, the feature excavated in the Military Town belongs to the group of earth amphitheatres. The stand was built on the bulk of earth that surrounded the arena. Only the twenty-four "U"-shaped wall units and the podium's wall were built using stones. The stand of this amphitheatrum, which may have accomodated as many as 10-13 thousand people, could be approached by an arched stairway.

Transaquincum is another, so-called, counter fort which stood on the right, Pest bank side of the Danube river across from the legionary fortress and the Governor!s Palace. A bridge led to the Buda side from this fort, the plan of which measured 76 by 78 m. This feature, no longer visible today, fell within the area modern sport courses on Dagály Street.

Contra Aquincum is an Aquincum fort, excavated on the right bank of the Danube by the Pest bridgehead of Erzsébet Bridge. It was built to secure safe passage across the Danube. This small fort with its rhombic plan measured 86 by 84 m and was protected by horse-shoe shaped towers. It was probably built in AD 294, however, its place was taken over by a major fort as early as the 2nd century. A section of the northern wall and two of its towers may be seen in their original location.

The Albertfalva Roman fort and settlement in Budapest fell within the previous territory of the Celtic Eraviscus tribe, whose central settlement was located on the southern slopes of Gellért hill. Due to political considerations, the Roman administration resettled part of the Eraviscus population in present-day Óbuda, while the other group was moved to the Albertfalva Plain during the first half of the AD 1st century. The Roman Period name of this settlement is unknown. Roman Albertfalva was located between the territories of Aquincum and Nagytétény (Campona). It played a strategically significant role as one of the important forts along the Empire's Pannonian limes. Until the AD 90's, the Buda limes section was guarded by three cavalry division (stationed at present day Óbuda, Bem square and Albertfalva). The Albertfalva auxiliary fort accomodated a 500 man cavalry unit. It was a timber fort equiped with towers and a double fortification ditch. The fort was destroyed during attacks by Sarmatians, who lived on the right, Pest side of the Danube river, however, it was always rebuilt. The fort, which was originally defended by an earth and timber structure, was rebuilt in stone after AD 106 under the reign of Traianus. Its area was expanded and yet another cavalry regiment was dispatched there. The area of the new fort measured 190 by 210 m. The buildings were again damaged in AD 178. However, a new renovation followed at the end of the 2nd century. In AD 259-260, the fort and its surroundings were burned down as a consquence of a major Barbarian attack and was not rebuilt again. The civilian settlement that surrounded the Albertfalva auxiliary fort (vicus) covered 720,000 square meters. After Aquincum, this may be considered the largest contiguous Roman settlement within the area of Budapest. People lived in wattle-and-daub houses, pit dwellings and timber framed houses during the AD 1st century. A pottery workshop, with the name of the so-called master HILARUS as its hallmark, as well as other industrial areas (tannery, metal workshops), were discovered west of the fort. Remains of farm buildings and a road station were discovered as well. Air-heated portico dwelling houses with several rooms and central corridors stood south of the fort. The cavalry opened its cemetery near the Albertfalva fort and vicus. Carved grave stones and statues are thus also known from Albertfalva. Some wall remains of the Albertfalva military fort and civilian settlement were partially preserved, however, the proper conservation of monuments has yet to be carried out.

Campona - the fort of the Nagytétény auxiliary unit. The first timber fort at this site was built during the reign of Emperor Domitianus for a cavalry unit, ala I Tungrorum Frontoniana, dispatched here from Aquincum. During the first third of the 2nd century, this fort was replaced by a stone construction measuring 178 by 200 m. Its walls were reinforced by pairs of towers and the fort itself was surrounded by a triple fortification ditch around its outside. The principia and some house remains were also dicovered. A major reconstruction took place following the devastating AD 333 Sarmatian invasion. Fan-shaped corner towers were built at that time while the two side entrances were closed in by horse-shoe shaped towers. Artifactual evidence shows that the castellum was still in use during the 5th century. The vicus militaris built around the fort lay below the modern settlement of Nagytétény. One of the most outstanding finds recovered here is a cultic Mithras relief. Other outdoor sights available for visitors include the porta principalis sinistra and porta praetoria, that is the fort's eastern and southern gates.