Site gallo-romain de l'Asile des Pêcheurs
MonumentHidden Treasure
Site gallo-romain de l'Asile des Pêcheurs, located in Taden (Département 22), is a ancient remains built in Antiquity. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Antiquity
- Location
- Taden, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4712, -2.0115
- Mérimée Reference
- PA22000012
Surplombant majestueusement la Rance, ce temple gallo-romain octostyle de Taden révèle, parmi onze sites archéologiques, l'empreinte sacrée de la civilisation romaine en Armorique.
History
In the heart of deepest Brittany, at Taden in the Côtes-d'Armor, the Asile des Pêcheurs archaeological site is one of the most eloquent testimonies to the Roman presence on the Armorican peninsula. Nestling on the heights overlooking the Rance valley, the site contains the remains of a Gallo-Roman temple of rare architectural quality, listed as a Historic Monument in 2000. What makes this site truly exceptional is the very nature of its main building: an octostyle temple, i.e. with eight columns on the façade, probably arranged in pairs - an arrangement known as twin columns - which gives this sanctuary a remarkable elegance and monumentality for a building of this scale. At the centre of the layout, a square room forms the cella, the sacred heart of the temple, the space reserved for the tutelary deity whose precise identity remains an archaeological enigma to this day. A staircase leading up to the front of the building completes the solemnity of the whole. Visiting the site takes place in an exceptional natural setting. Overlooking the River Rance from the heights of Taden, visitors enjoy a breathtaking panorama of the river valley, and immediately understand why the Roman builders chose this privileged location to erect their sanctuary. Positioned in this way, the monument stood out to travellers and boatmen alike as a visible signal and a declaration of power. Beyond the main temple, the site encompasses no fewer than eleven distinct archaeological spots distributed across the locality, offering archaeology enthusiasts an unsuspected wealth of discoveries. Ditches, foundations, traces of roadways and ceramic fragments bear witness to the dense and organised occupation of the area in the Gallo-Roman period. Today protected and preserved, the Asile des Pêcheurs is just as much a place for experienced archaeologists as it is for cultured walkers, eager to touch the depths of time with their eyes and to perceive, in these silent stones, the echo of a civilisation that transformed Armorique for so long.
Architecture
The Asile des Pêcheurs temple belongs to the category of classical Gallo-Roman temples, a provincial adaptation of the Mediterranean model to the constructional and religious realities of the cities of Gaul. Its plan follows the canonical pattern inherited from Roman architecture: a raised podium, accessible via a monumental staircase in the façade, on which the main structure rests. The most remarkable feature of this building is its octostyle character - eight columns on the façade - probably arranged in twinned pairs, giving the building a density and plastic robustness uncommon in this type of provincial monument. This arrangement of paired columns is reminiscent of certain temples in the western Roman world, and bears witness to a certain architectural mastery on the part of its builders. At the centre of the layout is the cella, an enclosed square room forming the sanctuary proper, housing the statue of the venerated deity. The materials used were probably local schist and granite, typical of Armorican construction, perhaps combined with imported limestone for the decorative parts. The temple's position on a hill overlooking the River Rance gave it maximum visibility from the valley and the banks of the river, reinforcing its role as a symbolic and religious landmark in the landscape. This acropolis approach - placing the sanctuary in an elevated position to assert the divine presence in the surrounding area - is one of the oldest traditions of Mediterranean sacred architecture, and has been successfully transposed here to the Breton landscape.
Related Figures
Jules César — général romain dont la conquête de la Gaule (52 av. J.-C.) ouvrit la voie à la romanisation de l'Armorique et à la création de ce type de sanctuairesLes Coriosolites — peuple gaulois dont Corseul était la capitale et dont le territoire englobait Taden, premiers dédicants probables du lieu sacréArchitectes et ingénieurs romains — concepteurs anonymes du temple, formés aux techniques de construction de l'Empire et adaptant les modèles méditerranéens au contexte localBâtisseurs armoricains — artisans gallo-romains locaux qui extrayèrent et taillèrent les matériaux en granite et schiste pour l'édification du sanctuaireArchéologues du Service Régional de l'Archéologie de Bretagne — chercheurs contemporains ayant identifié et documenté les onze sites du lieu-dit au cours du XXe siècle
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Site gallo-romain de l'Asile des Pêcheurs located?
Site gallo-romain de l'Asile des Pêcheurs is located in Taden, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Site gallo-romain de l'Asile des Pêcheurs built?
Site gallo-romain de l'Asile des Pêcheurs dates back to a period built during Antiquity.
Is Site gallo-romain de l'Asile des Pêcheurs open to visitors?
Site gallo-romain de l'Asile des Pêcheurs is currently closed to visitors.
