aixcentric

Virtually every time there are ‘travaux‘ in Aix, the archaeologists who precede the bulldozers unearth Roman pottery,

The head of Septimus Severus was discovered in the town

statues, funeral urns, drainage systems and stretches of road.  Over the years there have been small displays, but the next exhibition at the Granet will pull together these finds and give us the narrative in ‘Aix Antique’ which opens on the weekend of 6-7th December.

In parallel with this, mayor Marysse Joissans has announced that Aix’s Roman Theatre will be the subject of an inquiry to figure out the next step in its restoration.

It was discovered and uncovered just over ten years ago.

It had long been rumoured that there had been a Roman theatre in Aix. After all, with theatres in Arles and Orange and amphitheatres in Nîmes and Arles, it would be logical to expect a town of Aix’s size and importance to have a similar building.

In 2002 that the town council acquired a site behind the church of Notre Dame de la Seds and archaeologists found the remains of a large Roman building.  But what was it?

The discovery of a theatre wall confirmed the building’s use. It would have had dimensions similar to the theatres at Arles and Orange, around 100m in diameter and 30m high. A carving found at the site helped date the complex to the height of the Roman Empire. Those of us lucky enough to visit it could see tiers of seats along with vaulted walkways – but much remained to be excavated, including the stage which is thought to be buried under 15m of earth.

The excavation was complicated because medieval families had lived in the ruins of the building, using the stones to build their shelters, and so dismantling much of the structure. Archaeologists had to work carefully through layers of this history to get down to the Roman foundations below.

Unfortunately at this stage, the money ran out. So in 2006, the remains of the Roman theatre were carefully covered with layers of special fabric, polystyrene and sand.

It’s going to take some time to organise the funding for this work but, as Marysse Joissans says, it’s all been buried for 2000 years so why not take time to ensure a careful and sensitive restoration?