GALLO-ROMAN MAUSOLEUM

North of the village of Faverolles lies one of the most enigmatic ancient monuments in Haute-Marne. It is a mausoleum built in the 1st century AD by a wealthy Lingon who wished to be buried at the top of the ridge. The choice of this site was not random: it lies on the edge of a Roman road that linked Langres to Reims. As you walk along the mausoleum's discovery path, you come face to face with the remains of the ancient road. In a very good state of preservation despite its 2,000 years of existence, it still bears the ruts formed by the carts that used to use it every day. The mausoleum itself, discovered in 1980 and subsequently excavated by archaeologists, still features its rectangular enclosure, which separated the world of the dead from that of the living. An educational circuit, with explanatory panels placed around the burial enclosure, helps you to understand the context and reasons for the construction of such a monument in the middle of the forest. Documented texts and illustrations that recreate the monument as it must have been, plunge you into the local past. The remains excavated by archaeologists are now safely housed in the Faverolles archaeological museum, located in the village. You can visit the museum to get an idea of the meticulous ornamentation of the mausoleum, as well as to see a scale-model reconstruction of the architecture of the funerary monument.