Thesaurus

Originally was a Celtic settlement of the Rauraci tribe and later site of a Roman fortification established in 374 BCE by the Emperor Valentinian I. Bishop of Augusta Rarica moved his see here in 5th century and it became the site of the Counsel of Basel from 1431 to 1449. . With the establishment of the university here by pope Pius II in 1460, it became center of humanism and the Reformation in 16th century. The city split into two small cantons in 1833, with agricultural section becoming the present say Basel-Land, and the city section becoming the Basel-Stadt.