Vestiges de la citadelle gallo-romaine de Vésone
FortressHidden Treasure
Last bulwark of the ancient city of Vésone, the Gallo-Roman walls of Périgueux have stood with their round towers and majestic Porte de Mars since the third century — an exceptional testament to Roman resilience in the face of barbarian invasions.
History
In the heart of Périgueux, where the ancient city of Vésone rewrote its history under the threat of invaders, stand the remains of a fortified wall that is one of the most remarkable examples of Late Roman military architecture in Gaul. Built in emergency and distress, this citadel is nonetheless a monument of rare historical density, where each stone tells of both the lost splendour of a prosperous city and the fierce determination of its inhabitants to survive. What makes this complex truly unique is the very nature of its construction. Built dry, without mortar, from the debris of the devastated city - column shafts, sculpted capitals, votive altars - the enclosure is a kind of architectural palimpsest: a monument built from the ruins of other monuments. Its six-metre-thick curtain walls and twenty-four round towers form a fortification of rare formal coherence for a work produced in such haste. The Porte de Mars, or Roman Gate, is the absolute jewel in the crown. Flanked by two towers adorned with pilasters and entablatures, its archivolt with concentric arches bears witness to a surprising aesthetic concern for a defensive structure. It is the best-preserved Roman monument in Périgueux, and one of the few of its kind still standing in Aquitaine. A visit to the remains is both an archaeological and a sensory experience. The oval plan of the enclosure, part of which rests on the terraces of the ancient amphitheatre, creates a ghostly but persistent presence in today's urban fabric. Between wild grass and thousand-year-old stone, the walker perceives the topography of a vanished city superimposed on that of a very much alive city. Périgueux, a city of art and history nestling in the heart of the Dordogne, offers a remarkable setting for this plunge into Late Antiquity. Just a stone's throw from the Vesunna Museum and the famous Vesonius Tower, the remains of the citadel and its other monuments form a Gallo-Roman itinerary unrivalled in south-west France.
Architecture
The Vesone enclosure belongs to the group of urban fortifications of the Late Roman Empire, erected in Gaul in the second half of the 3rd century in response to the Germanic invasions. Its oval plan, with a perimeter of around 900 metres, is typical of these new citadels, which abandoned the classic orthogonal layout in favour of a more compact form that was easier to defend with smaller numbers of troops. The curtain walls, which were an exceptional six metres thick, were flanked by twenty-four round towers eight metres in diameter, evenly spaced to allow effective flanking fire. The integration of the amphitheatre as a natural defensive element on one side of the enclosure is a remarkable technical and town-planning feature. The construction technique is fascinating from an archaeological point of view: built dry, without mortar, the enclosure is an assembly of reused materials taken from the ruins of the devastated town. Column shafts, Ionic and Corinthian capitals, base blocks, votive altars - everything sculpted or carved that the ancient city had produced was reused in a gesture of architectural and economic survival. Today, this palimpsest of stone is an irreplaceable source of documentation on the public architecture of Vesonia in the Early Empire. The Porte de Mars, or Roman Gate, is the architectural highlight of the whole complex. Although conceived in a military context, it is carefully ornamented: two round towers frame the passageway, decorated with pilasters and an entablature in the style of palatial architecture. The archivolt over the entrance bay is decorated with concentric arches in low relief, a decorative motif typical of late Roman architecture in the western provinces. This balance between defensive functionality and monumental decorum testifies to the persistence, even in times of crisis, of a refined Roman architectural culture.
Related Figures
Dioclétien — empereur romain sous le règne duquel fut organisée la défense des cités gauloises après les invasions alamanesLes Pétrocores — tribu gauloise fondatrice de Vésone, dont les descendants rebâtirent l'enceinte après les ravages de 275-276Les Alamans — fédération germanique dont les incursions dévastèrent Vésone et déclenchèrent la construction de la citadelleAurelien — empereur romain qui chassa les Alamans de Gaule vers 274-275, rendant possible la reconstruction de VésoneProsper Mérimée — inspecteur général des monuments historiques qui contribua à la reconnaissance et à la protection du patrimoine antique de Périgueux au XIXe siècleLéo Drouyn — archéologue aquitain du XIXe siècle qui étudia et documenta les vestiges romains de Périgueux
