A glorious but unknown past..
Unlike the cities of Nîmes or Arles, which still boast spectacular open-air remains that give us a glimpse of past splendor, in Narbonne most of the emblematic monuments of the Roman period are no longer visible. Instead, it's underground that the city preserves the traces of its ancient history. So few people are truly aware of Narbo Martius' glorious past. After all, the city had an amphitheatre as large as those of the other two cities, and its Capitol was twice as big as the Maison Carrée in Nîmes. But over the years, Narbonne has suffered the ravages of time, barbarian invasions and other events, which explains why most of the ancient monuments are now reduced to their foundations and buried 1 or 2 meters beneath the present-day city or in the ponds... And that's not all: one of the most widely used materials in Narbo Martius, much more so than in Nîmes or Arles, was marble. Unfortunately, this meant that most of its monuments were destroyed and used as quarries to build other buildings or refloat its harbors.
Archaeological excavations on an unprecedented scale
In 2010, archaeological digs on an extraordinary scale began all around Narbonne's ponds. This titanic project has uncovered the houses of Clos de la Lombarde, a section of the Via Domitia in the heart of the city and remains of the city walls. Using today's digital tools, archaeologists are now able to reconstruct the riches of the past, from landing stages to period frescoes, from the Capitol to the imperial villa.
Narbo Via, an outstanding cultural centre
A new museum on the banks of the Canal de la Robine brings Narbonne's past as a Roman capital back to life. Originally scheduled to open its doors to visitors at the end of 2020, Covid-19 forced the museum to open in the spring of 2021. The aim is simple: to bring the prestigious city of Narbo Martius back to life! This cultural hub, comprising the Narbo Via Museum, the underground galleries of the Horreum and the Amphoralis archaeological site-museum, is destined to become a national benchmark for archaeological research and ancient history, as well as a regional jewel in the crown of Mediterranean archaeological heritage.
Narbo Via Museum. Situated at the eastern entrance to the town, along the Canal de la Robine, the Narbo Via Museum offers visitors the chance to discover what the city of Narbo Martius was like under the Roman Empire: social organization, urban planning and architecture (monumental remains and sumptuous decorations in the houses of the Clos de la Lombarde, the finest collection of Gallo-Roman paintings outside Italy); economic and port life, with an overview of current research and excavations in the area. In addition to the permanent exhibition, there will also be temporary exhibitions, workshops, film screenings, evening events, behind-the-scenes tours of the museum's storerooms, and visits to local excavation sites. The gardens, with their open-air events and shows, bookshop-boutique and restaurant complete the vocation of this living space open to the city. Narbo Via is also a center for archaeological research, with a restoration workshop (ceramics, mosaics, painted plasterwork, lapidary fragments) and a study room for collections and archaeological furniture, as well as a 200-seat auditorium for conferences and symposia. The backbone of the building, a monumental wall made up of 760 stone blocks, most of which were taken from the Roman necropolises of the ancient city, opens up the collections. This lapidary wall, armed with several large screens, allows visitors to experience the memory and monumentality of the Roman city.
The Horreum ("warehouse" in Latin), at the heart of the modern city, consists of underground galleries built in the 1st century B.C. and situated 5 metres below the current ground level. It's not known exactly what these galleries were used for: as foundations for buildings? as storage areas for foodstuffs sold at the nearby market? The galleries were listed as Historic Monuments in 1961, and were converted and opened to the public in 1976. Along with the archaeological remains of the Clos de la Lombarde, the Horreum is one of the few Roman monuments that can be visited in the center of Narbonne. Its funerary bas-reliefs are real treasures, evoking ancient monuments that no longer exist: amphitheaters, theaters, thermal baths, temples... The sound and light tour evokes the atmosphere of Roman markets, gladiator fights, the forum...
Amphoralis: The Gallo-Roman pottery museum, located in Sallèles d'Aude, a few kilometers north of Narbonne, is a unique site where
nique site, combining the archaeological remains of a potters' village, a modern museum with high-tech discovery tools, and a walk through reconstructed Roman gardens. In the 1970s, while ploughing deep into one of their plots of land, a winegrowing couple stumbled upon numerous shards of ancient pottery. There's something under the vines! No more digging... Over a period of twenty years, archaeologists patiently unearthed the remains of an ancient pottery factory, including exceptionally well-preserved kilns. It was here that Gallic flat-bottomed amphorae were produced for wine transport, as well as various building materials (bricks, tiles) and everyday crockery. This artisan complex is a retrospective of the lifestyle of generations of potters over more than three centuries (Iᵉʳ to the 3rd century CE). In the park, an outdoor trail leads to restitutions of kilns and a Gallo-Roman dwelling, built identically to the remains found. Numerous activities are organized here, especially for children.
The Via Domitia
This major trade route linked Narbonne to Italy on the one hand, and to the Iberian peninsula on the other, in the 2nd century B.C. It was discovered in 1997, quite by chance, on the Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville, while the municipality was undertaking urban planning work. One of the main purposes of this road was to enable Roman armies to circulate and easily establish garrisons to protect Roman cities. Gradually, merchants also used it to transport their goods. In the towns it passed through, the Via Domitia was paved or flagstoned. Just imagine Roman chariots rolling over these polished stones, and you'll be transported back in time. Modern roads often still follow the Via Domitia route (N85 - N100 - A9...).
The Clos de la Lombarde
This archeological site is in fact an ancient residential district, inhabited at the time by the notables of Roman Narbonne, whether civil servants, soldiers or merchants. You can see their streets, houses, thermal baths, craft workshops and an early Christian basilica. Located to the north of Narbonne, along the Domitian Way, the site is close to a vast necropolis occupied by large domus, whose famous fresco paintings are on display in the archaeological museum. Since November 2023, the site has offered a 3D virtual tour of the reconstructed Clos de la Lombarde. For further information, visit https://closdelalombarde.com
Thank you Romans for the good wine!
As early as the Roman conquest, Narbonne was authorized to grow vines, a privilege of Rome at the time. Thus began the region's winegrowing history. It was the Romans who planted vines in Narbonne, first on the Clape massif and then on the Aude plain. And it was wine exports that made Narbonne one of the largest Roman ports in the Mediterranean! Wines from Narbonne supplied not only Gaul, but also the camps on the banks of the Rhine and Danube, Brittany (England) and Rome. Gallic wine amphorae have even been found on the borders of the eastern Mediterranean: Turkey, Egypt and Sudan. Like the Greeks before them, the Romans were connoisseurs of viticulture. Olive trees and vines were introduced to Narbonne in the1st century AD. Planted over 2,000 years ago by the Romans, Narbonne's vineyards are among the oldest in France. Wine production has never stopped since the Romans first settled here. The wine estates you see today are often built on ancient Roman villas.
