Deeply Roman

Narbonne was an important part of the Roman Empire for a long time. One of the Emperors was a local as were numerous senators. But there are no huge standing ruins – largely because later waves of people used the Roman buildings as quarries.

We started our Roman deep dive at the museum which has a great many blocks recovered from later buildings. Many have Roman carvings on one side and medieval carvings on the other.  There are also impressive mosaics – mosaics survived because they could not be easily recycled.

Narbonne was important as a port but also as a crossroads, and part of the original Roman road has been exposed in the main square.

After a boulangerie break (deserved as we are both a bit sleep deprived after Jennifer’s late night meetings) we visited the horroreum, which is a Roman underground warehouse. Think walled tunnel with small rooms. To be honest it’s a marketing triumph as there’s not a lot to it.

Our final Roman effort was the Clos de la Lombard which was an amateur run operation and fascinating. In the early 70s they were going to build a tax office but work quickly stopped when they stumbled on a huge mosaic. Since then a group of locals have excavated the remains of several houses and a baths complex. What made it stand out was the guided tour. The tour wasn’t of the ruins, but of a computer recreation. So we were walked through the complex before seeing the ruins, which was incredibly effective.