The sites and museum

 

Discovery of the site

Starting in the Middle Ages, a charitable establishment and a hospital, the Saint Paul charity and then the Hôtel-Dieu, occupied that sector which was at that time incorporated in the canonical quarter. The establishment continued as a hospital until 1938 and was then demolished. Its destruction was followed by the unearthing of the archaeological remains that can be seen in the Garden of Cybele.

Interpretations

Built on the natural downslope reshaped into landings, several Gallo-Roman monumental sets can be identified, but there is still controversy over how they should be interpreted.

To the north: the remains should be seen as a continuation of the Gallo-Roman monumental centre, between the forum and the theatre. Both arches belong to a public monument with porticoes which was placed at the eastern end of the forum.

Behind, to the east, the municipal theatre was built on the site of the Palais des Canaux ('Palace of Canals'); this ancient name refers to substructions with levelled voûtements (coverings) reminiscent of inlets for Gallo-Roman aqueducts providing the water supply to thermal baths. In 1782, before the construction of the auditorium, archaeologist Pierre Schneyder made some important archaeological discoveries there.

At the centre: a public building with a quadrangular layout including:

- The great north wall made of cut limestone of such quality that it gave Prosper Mérimée (1834) "the highest impression of the splendour of the ancient town".

- Substructions of stands forming the arc of a circle, mostly destroyed.

This architectural design seems to indicate a room in the form of a theatre: odeon or small theatre for initiation ceremonies, or a meeting room for decurions (town councillors) and civic assemblies of the Roman colony.

In the southern part, to the south of an alleyway in the form of a staircase, for a long time it was thought that there had been a temple to the eastern goddess Cybele, raised by a few steps and supplemented by adjacent liturgical rooms where bulls would have been sacrificed. Today there are many counter-arguments which call this interpretation into question, because the natural downslope near the Saint Marcel ravine and the re-levelling could also be consistent with the presence in this area of dwellings or public buildings built on artificial terraces.