THE SEVERIAN BASILICA

Also built under the reign of Septime Harsh, it served as a public court. The Byzantine transformed her into church in the th century. The nave of this luxurious marble basilica measuring 92 m on 40 x 80 columns has a floor and ceiling of wood. The niches of the two apses at each end of the nave had statues. Each apse has two pilasters, which we will certainly admire.

These irreparably sculpted pilasters are authentic books illustrated where one can read the escapades of Dionysus (north apse) and the works of Hercules (southern apse), the two bosses of the city. Among the vines, the works of Hercules are magnificently represented: Hercules fighting the Queen of the Amazon, the lion of Nemea, the Lerne hydra and the giant Géryon, Hercules and the centaur Centaure, Hercules choosing apples from the garden Hesperides.

A baptistery plunges the apse, which was transformed into altar under Byzantine rule.

A staircase can be mounted at the south-east end of the basilica, where, from the small part adjacent to the apse, a panoramic view is deployed on the site. The escape is discouraged for children, the steps are damaged and there is a risk of dizzy.