Sunday 21 August 2016

France - part 7

Our first trip away from Eygalières was a shopping trip for food. We went to the nearby town of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Before doing the shopping we took in a visit to the Antiques de Glanum, on the hillside beyond the town. It's located on the Via Domitia, the Roman road that linked Italy with Spain, running through southern France.
Glanum started out as a Celtic fortified settlement (featuring a sacred well) dating back to appxox the 4th ntury BC for the earliest parts. It prospered again under the Romans in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The town part of the site was paid access only and we didn't go in.

What we did visit were two of  the Roman contsructions on the other side of the road;  France's oldest triumphal arch, built towards the end of Augustus Caesar's reign (so before 14 AD), which depicts the Roman victory over Gaul, and the Mausoleum of the Julii, dating to 40 BC.

The Mausoleum, which was probably a memorial rather than a burial place, is 18 metres (60 feet) high,






















1 comment:

Lorraine said...

It amazes me to see the detail in these wonders that have stood for so long.