Chapeau! The conseil municipal of Aix yesterday unanimously voted to install three glass panels (dalles vitrés) above the archaeological remains recently uncovered in the Place Verdun.
The ‘dig’ has been going on ahead of the pedestrianisation of the places Precheurs, Madeleine and Verdun. Link to some background: https://aixcentric.com/2016/06/05/place-des-precheurs-archaeologists-to-move-in/
It’s front page news in today’s La Provence and here is a rough shot of their explanatory diagram which shows where the panels will be.
The town’s lead archaeologist Nuria Nin has described what they will show:
- The best-conserved part of the palace of the counts of Provence. Probably built in the 12th century, it was home to King René, then the seat of Parlement from 1501, when Provence became part of France.
- The cellars of the palace.
- Part of the old road to the palace which includes the base of dwellings opposite.
The choices were made based on the state of preservation of the remains as well as parts that would make sense to the
public. Of course other factors came into play: access for the pompiers, café terraces, access to homes, shops and the law courts among them.
In fact it all worked in quite neatly according to Nuria Nin. The diagram here shows how tinted stones will show the boundaries of the palace and connect the foundations below.
Here are some details of the glassed areas:
- we will see 60m2 of exposed remains
- the panels will take a weight of 500kg per sq metre
- the surface will be anti-slip for wet days
- access to vehicles will be prohibited
- there will be a 200m2 maintenance area for air-treatment machinery, electrics etc
- they will be illuminated at night
- the cost will be 600,000 euros.
The archaeologists are continuing work until the end of April – then we will have to wait until next spring to see the finished, renovated Place Verdun.
aixcentric 
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