Villa gallo-romaine de Mané-Vechen

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

Small ancient establishment, located at the seaside. The villa is organized around a courtyard. Access to it is gained from the south through a porch. Two rooms with decorated ceilings made it possible to enter the villa. On the east section there is a small patio where a monetary treasure was uncovered. A large reception hall was situated in the south wing. In the west wing, two other rooms are served by a corridor. The fairly rich decoration of the south room featured a depiction of Venus surrounded by two cupids as well as panels imitating marble. The east and north wings, without a portico, open directly onto the courtyard, bordered by four reception rooms and a corridor. The courtyard is organized around an octagonal basin. Behind the north wing there are three rooms: a kitchen, a sort of pantry and a small apartment. A winter garden was laid out in the south section. To the south-west of the establishment, there was a small building which would appear rather to be a silo, with a double wall, designed to ensure the control of the heat of the building. The construction of the ensemble dates to the end of the 2nd century. It experienced different occupation at the end of the 3rd century and beginning of the 4th century. Traces of butchery as well as coin minting have been found. The establishment is not a villa in the classical sense of the term. It could be the seat of a company of exploiters of coastal resources, salt production, products of salting factories, acting as a chamber of commerce.