History Like other later Roman settlements on the southwest coast of Sardinia, Nora owes its urban foundations to the establishment of a Phoenician colony at the site; though there was native Sardinian habitation at the site previously. Pausanias also describes a mythological foundation of the city; an Iberian named Norax crossed to Sardinia, conquered the…
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History Referred to as Plumbaria during Roman times, due to the lead deposits mined on the island, the present-day Isola di Sant’Antioco seems to have been inhabited by the Nuragic culture as early as the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE, and the pre-Nuragic Ozieri even earlier. Sometime around 750-740 BCE, the settlement of Sulcis…
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Continued from Caralis Part I. Orto Botanico di Cagliari Just down the street from the amphitheater is the Orto Botanico di Cagliari, the botanical gardens. The Orto Botanico, located at Via Sant’Ignazio da Laconi 11, are open every day except Monday from 9:00 to 18:00 in the summer (April through October) and 9:00 to 14:00…
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History Scattered among the bustling modern capital of Sardinia are the remains of the Punic and Roman city of Caralis. The favorable geography around Caralis attracted habitation in the area dating back to the Neolithic age. Sometime in the late 8th or early 7th century BCE, the Phoenicians established a colony here called Karaly, one…
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History The exact date of the founding of Forum Julii, the ancient predecessor to modern Fréjus, is a bit unclear. The name suggests that it was founded by Julius Caesar, and as such, it is likely that it was founded somewhere around 49 BCE, perhaps as some sort of camp or supply station during Caesar’s…
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History Standing in the alpine foothills above the Principality of Monaco, in the small French town of La Turbie, is one of the few remaining trophies from the Roman world; the Tropaeum Alpium. Known locally as le Trophée des Alpes, the Tropaeum Alpium (also called the Tropaeum Augusti) was constructed on order of Augustus in…
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History Perched on a hill above the bustling city of Nice, in a neighborhood derived from the ancient city’s name (Cimiez), are the remains of the Roman town of Cemenelum. Preceding Cemenelum were both a Gallic and Greek settlement in the immediate area. The Greek settlement, Nikaia, was founded by colonists from Massalia in the…
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History Located near the present day town of Gallargues-le-Montueux is the Gallo-Roman settlement of Ambrussum. The site was occupied as far back as the second millennium BCE, but the Gallic oppidium seems to have been constructed about 300 BCE. Like nearby Nemausus, the oppidum at Ambrussum was in the territory of the Volcae Arecomici. Shortly…
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Continued From Nemausus Part I About 800 meters to the west (as the crow flies; it’s nearly a kilometer following streets) of the Porte de France, there is a small section of the Nemausus city wall that is heavily conserved and probably largely of later construction at the intersection of Avenue Kennedy and Rue Armand…
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History As was the case at Glanum, the origins of the settlement of Nemausus seem to lie in the presence of a sacred spring and sanctuary dedicated to that deity of the spring. Located in the territory of the Volcae Arecomici, a settlement grew in the area during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE,…
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