Site gallo-romain de Bas-Calonge - La Bombe
MonumentHidden Treasure
Site gallo-romain de Bas-Calonge - La Bombe, located in La Réole (Gironde), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- La Réole, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.5862, -0.0298
- Mérimée Reference
- PA33000008
Buried beneath the soil of Bordeaux, the Gallo-Roman site of Bas-Calonge reveals a fanum and a three-aisled basilica dating from the 1st century, exceptional witnesses to the religious and civil life of Roman Aquitaine.
History
A few kilometres from La Réole, a medieval town perched on the slopes of the Garonne, lies a secret in the bowels of the earth that dates back two thousand years. The archaeological site of Bas-Calonge - La Bombe is one of those places that you can't see but you can feel: an ancient presence, muted and tenacious, emerging in the slightly hummocky relief of the Gironde's agricultural plots. What sets this site apart from the many other Gallo-Roman sites in the south-west is the coexistence of two complementary and rare buildings: a fanum, a civic and religious temple typically Gallic in conception but Romanised in expression, and a three-nave basilica, the scale of which suggests a role of prime importance in the territorial organisation of ancient Aquitaine. Together, they form the outline of a pilgrimage sanctuary, a meeting place where local people came to seek divine protection, justice or simply community. For the enlightened visitor, a visit to Bas-Calonge is an invitation to exercise the imagination. The structures are buried, invisible to the naked eye, but their presence has been confirmed by decades of archaeological surveys and test pits. The attentive walker will perceive in the micro-relief of the land the ghosts of walls, the slight depressions that betray ancient soil levels. It's an archaeology of the eye, demanding but deeply rewarding. The natural setting reinforces this special atmosphere. The Gironde countryside, between vineyards and oak woods, offers a serene setting that probably hasn't changed that much since the first Roman pilgrims walked these paths. The proximity of the Garonne, a commercial and spiritual artery of antiquity, is a reminder that this site was not isolated, but part of a dense network of human traffic and cultural exchanges.
Architecture
The architecture of Bas-Calonge belongs to the Roman-Gallic tradition, a formal syncretism characteristic of the first two centuries AD in the northern and western provinces of the Empire. The fanum is the most typical expression of this: a centred plan, probably square or polygonal, organised around a raised cella - a space off-limits to lay people - surrounded by a covered ambulatory for ritual circumambulation. This layout, repeated identically at hundreds of sites in northern Gaul, bears witness to an architectural codification specific to Romanised indigenous cults, as distinct from the classical peristyle temples of Mediterranean inspiration. The three-nave basilica represents a more ambitious type of building, whose proportions - difficult to specify without extensive excavation - must have imposed a significant volume on the ancient rural landscape. The tripartite division of the interior space, with a higher central nave designed to provide overhead lighting through high windows (clerestories), and two side aisles, represents the most advanced technical solution in Roman civil architecture for covering large spaces. Local materials - Périgord limestone, tegulae and imbrices for the roofs - were probably used, in line with regional construction practices in ancient Gironde. The ensemble formed a complex with a mixed religious and civil vocation, whose spatial organisation directed the flow of pilgrims from the access roads to the worship areas, via reception and temporary accommodation zones, the traces of which remain to be identified by future excavations.
Related Figures
Auguste (empereur romain, règne 27 av. J.-C. – 14 apr. J.-C.) — sous son règne s'amorce la romanisation de l'Aquitaine qui rend possible la construction du siteTibère (empereur romain, règne 14-37 apr. J.-C.) — période correspondant à la datation la plus précoce du complexe (25-30 apr. J.-C.)Archéologues du Service Régional de l'Archéologie d'Aquitaine — responsables des prospections ayant permis l'identification et la protection du site au XXe siècleAdministrateurs romains de la cité des Vasates (Bazas) — dont dépendait vraisemblablement ce territoire à l'époque gallo-romaine
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Site gallo-romain de Bas-Calonge - La Bombe located?
Site gallo-romain de Bas-Calonge - La Bombe is located in La Réole, Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
Is Site gallo-romain de Bas-Calonge - La Bombe open to visitors?
Site gallo-romain de Bas-Calonge - La Bombe is currently closed to visitors.
