![Map of Winterthur and surroundings, circa 1709.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/karte-von-winterthur-und-umgebung-um-1709-300x225.jpg)
From ‘Uitoduro’ to ‘Winti’: how place names change
Since they were founded centuries ago, place name have undergone constant change. Unsophisticated descriptions of the local landscape, or ownership, have morphed into abbreviations popular among the young. In Winterthur’s case, it has gone from ‘Uitoduro’ to ‘Winti’.
![How the small Roman town of Vitudurum might have looked in the first quarter of the second century.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/vitudurum-300x214.jpg)
Winterthur, the pasture gate
Celtic place names were Romanised
![The first written mention of the city of Solothurn is on a former altar stone dating from 219 AD. The abbreviation Salod marked in red stands for the place name Salodurum.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/solodurum-200x300.jpg)
New Celtic-Roman establishments
![Winterthur in an engraving by Matthäus Merian, circa 1640.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/winterthur-in-einem-stich-von-matthaus-merian-um-1640-300x100.jpg)
Yet another change of language
What are the Winter and Thur in Winterthur?
![‘Winti’ in lights at the Sulzer complex in Winterthur.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/mit-licht-geschriebenes-winti-im-sulzerareal-in-winterthur-300x201.jpg)