Aside from the remains in the major urban centers of Sulcis, Nora, and Caralis in the southern part of Sardinia, there are a number of smaller sites or more isolated sets of remains, as there is throughout the island. I’ve cobbled together some of these sites in a few posts focusing on different geographic areas…
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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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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 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 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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Most Recent Visit: June 2018 The forerunner to the current second largest city in France, Marseille, was the important ancient city of Massalia. Massalia was the oldest Greek colony in Gaul, founded in 600 BCE by Greeks from Phocaea. According to Thucydides, this was opposed by the Carthaginians, who were subsequently defeated in a naval…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018 As has been discussed in previous posts, there are a number of sites that would be categorized as miscellaneous; not associated with any major site that would warrant a full post to itself, but also very much worth visiting. A number of these sites spring up along the path of…
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Continued From Arelate Part I A bit north of the Place du Forum, at about 13 Rue du Sauvage, are the remains of a basilica incorporated into the façade of the Hôtel d’Arlatan. A sign on the building on the west side of Rue du Sauvage marks the spot. Some of the stonework in the…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018 Not far from the confluence of the Rhône and L’Aigue rivers is the French town of Orange, which boasts perhaps two of the most well-known Roman monuments in France; the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the Théâtre Antique d’Orange and the Arc de Triomphe d’Orange. Located in the territory of…
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