GALLO-ROMAN VILLA IN SEVIAC

The extraordinary Gallo-Roman villa of Séviac reopened its doors on June 4, 2018, transfigured by major restoration work on the mosaics and the construction of a roofing building. Located near the village of Montréal-du-Gers, the site of the villa of Séviac has been known since the second half of the 19th century. The villa was discovered by chance in 1860 by a farmer who was digging the foundations of his future farm. The site was regularly excavated until 1996. These excavations revealed a luxurious Gallo-Roman villa from late antiquity, built in the second half of the 4th century on top of an older villa. The villa model was described by Latin authors as both a rural residence and a farm. It was dedicated to supplying the cities. The country villa was opposed to the domus of the cities. The one in Seviac was the heart of an agricultural and wine-growing complex that covered 300 hectares. With a surface area of 6,500^m2, this villa is today considered to be one of the largest residences in southwestern Gaul. It is distinguished by its exceptional set of mosaics and its vast baths. The mosaics discovered on the site are only part of the original decor. If they cover today 625^m2, they should probably decorate the villa on nearly 1 500^m2 in the first half of the^fifth century. Laid in several campaigns since the second half of the 4th century, they adorned important spaces such as the baths, the galleries and the ceremonial rooms. By their decorations, geometric then plant, they are representative of the school of Aquitaine, a stylistic school of mosaicists active in southwestern Gaul between the late fourth and sixth century. The ensemble is so extensive that it was classified as a historical monument in 1978. The villa of Séviac is also distinguished by its vast thermal baths, which at the beginning of the^5th century covered nearly 520^m2. The importance of these baths to the successive owners can be seen in the many changes they underwent. The first baths are modest and date from the first half of the 2nd century. They are restructured in an ostentatious way when the late villa is fitted out, after 350, with marble coverings, the heating of the ground of the basins and the rooms. A swimming pool decorated with mosaics and marble is then built: it is always visible today.