Dimensions and a location that would leave any real estate agent speechless. Just imagine. A house with a floor area of 6,000 m2, opening onto a first monumental reception room of 120 m2, set in 711 hectares of land, with a breathtaking view of the Gironde estuary… The Gallo-Roman villa of Plassac, near de Blaye (Gironde), “stands out from the crowd by its dimensions and the richness displayed in its decorations” insists Clément Lignat, mediator of the departmental council, during the visit of the domain.
After a first discovery of mosaics in 1883 – but which will not be followed up – the ancient site was rediscovered in 1962, and actively excavated until 1981, a period during which “we found a lot of elements. “And he has not finished revealing all his secrets. New archaeological excavations were relaunched in 2022, and extended for just over three weeks last July. They made it possible to uncover the location of a large colonnaded facade gallery, about 90 meters long, with its ornamental basin, about 50 meters long. “The gallery was reflected in the basin to give an impression of monumentality in order to impress visitors” explains Clément Lignat.
Floor heating
Open to the public, the site now allows visitors to admire the lower part of the villa’s walls, some floor mosaics kept in exceptional condition, as well as the central floor heating systems, the hypocausts, which allowed to reach 25°C in some rooms of the house. “Of course, you have to imagine the walls, the roofs, to imagine the villa as it was in ancient times” continues Clément Lignat.
Even if the remains only show two-thirds of what this villa was, we are still well aware of the dimensions and organization of the estate. An associative museum located just next door, run by Les Amis du Vieux Plassac, exhibits mosaics, paintings, pottery and objects found on site for a better understanding of what Plassac was like in Gallo-Roman times.
Second home
“A villa is an agricultural estate, explains Clément Lignat. It is the farm of the wealthy Romans, inside which there are two parts: the house, which is called the leave urbanaand the fields with the buildings used for the storage of tools and harvests, the leave rustica Or agriculture. This last part is no longer visible, since the town of Plassac settled over time over it. All of these fields represented a total area of 711 hectares, i.e. the entire commune of Plassac, plus half of the neighboring commune of Villeneuve.
In five hundred years of occupation, between the 1st and 5th centuries AD. J.-C., “several families have succeeded” within the villa, knowing that in ancient times, “a family represents between fifteen and twenty people”. “In general, we only come to this type of villa in the summer, it is the second home of these rich Romans, which supposes that the owners also had house, townhouses, either in Saintes, Médiolanum, or in Bordeaux, Burdigala. The agricultural exploitation, ensured by framed slaves, functions all the year. “In the 1st century, we are mainly on the cultivation of cereals, and from the 2nd century and the introduction of the vine in Gaul, the villa becomes a vineyard, that is where it will prosper. »
School of Aquitaine
Prosperity which is reflected in the decorations found on the site of the villa. “We are on a very luxurious villa”, repeats Clément Lignat. “The house has experienced three major periods, sums up the mediator. In the first, it was decorated with frescoes, murals and painted plasters, which are dated around 50-60 AD. J.-C. Then it evolved in its architecture and its decorations, to adapt to fashion. In the 2nd century, the construction was enlarged to reach 6,000 m2, and the wall paintings were removed to be replaced by marble from all around the Mediterranean, as well as black and white mosaics on certain floors. Then there will be new modifications at the end of the 4th-beginning of the 5th century, mainly in the east wing. »
If the architecture of the villa takes up overall Roman criteria, “as far as the decorations are concerned, it is different, since the mosaics on the ground, for example, come from the Aquitaine school, characterized by the fact of not represent only geometric shapes and plants. This is why we are on a Gallo-Roman villa. »
“Elements of understanding river trade on the Gironde”
“This villa is an exceptional testimony to the ancient occupation of the Gironde, and also gives us elements of understanding of the river trade on the Gironde”, explains Carole Guere, vice-president of the departmental council in charge of culture. “The interest of Plassac is to be located between two large cities, Saintes and Bordeaux, and on the edge of the estuary, which represents a traffic axis for trade”, confirms Clément Lignat.
Listed as a Historic Monument, the site welcomes 3,000 schoolchildren and 5,000 visitors each year. The Gironde Departmental Council, the owner, intends to make it better known to the general public, in particular through activities during events such as Heritage Days, from September 15 to 17. “We have also just bought a building to create a research laboratory there, which will accommodate a maximum of young researchers, the aim being to continue to make progress on the discovery of this site”, explains Carole Guere.
If the latest excavations “open new perspectives for visiting the site”, the department does not intend to stop there. “We are going to continue to focus on the facade to see if there are not thermal baths, thus advances Clément Lignat. The access path should also provide information on how it connected the port to the villa. »
Opening of the site from March 1 to November 30. Visits to the archaeological site, free or guided, free. Museum: €5 for adults, €3 for children aged 8 to 16 (free for children under 8).