Ancient Roman sanctuary — built to welcome the faithful — unearthed in France. See it
When real estate developers began work at an old hospital in northwestern France, they discovered remnants of a once bustling ancient Roman city.
Now, two years later, archaeologists are revealing what that city looked like and how the daily life of Romans is still preserved in the dirt.
The site is located in Rennes, and excavations under the 19th-century hospital began in 2022, according to a June 18 news release from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research.
The ruins stretch along one street going north and south, and two cross streets going east and west creating a city square, researchers said.
The streets were first built during the 1st century, according to the release, and by the end of the century the Romans began using masonry.
The carved and worked stones were used to help build up the city, researchers said, including a large sanctuary as part of a religious complex. The sanctuary had a courtyard which would have been used to welcome the faithful to the place of worship, according to the release.
Similar structures were also built, including warehouses, shops and homes using the same stones from the masonry. The roads were then redone from their original construction to integrate them into the then-booming city, researchers said.
Archaeologists discovered the northern wall of the sanctuary’s courtyard in 2024, according to the release, and the entire wall spans from a temple deeper into the religious complex. The site may have also later been used as a civic center based on inscriptions from the 3rd century, researchers said.
During the 3rd century, the city also had a district with large private residences, according to the release. One had a large reception room where the owner could have received clients or guests, and it even had a heated floor.
An air space was placed under the floor with columns, and then warm air would be pumped into the underground space, heating the floor above, researchers said.
Other rooms were covered with paintings, and pieces of the works were found collapsed on a concrete floor, researchers said.
After hundreds of years of growth, the city started to decline in the 4th century, researchers said, and the stones from the public sanctuary were dismantled, and instead a quarry was opened.
At the turn of the 3rd century, a cemetery was established in the ruined areas, according to the release. More than 600 tombs were added to the burial grounds for more than 400 years until it was no longer used in the 8th century.
The modern city of Rennes is in northwestern France, about 200 miles west of Paris.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research.
This story was originally published June 26, 2024 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Ancient Roman sanctuary — built to welcome the faithful — unearthed in France. See it."
