Roman Sites in France: Explore Ancient Towns, Aqueducts and Mosaic Villas

Roman sites in France include excavated urban districts, amphitheatres with arcaded outer walls, standing temples and aqueducts crossing valleys and plateaus. Bathing complexes and mosaic-decorated villas preserve another range of structures, from vaulted service rooms to formal reception halls.

The examples below extend from Provence and the Rhône valley to Chassenon and the villa at Séviac. They show how Roman buildings fitted into towns, estates and water systems, with differences in surviving fabric and later rebuilding explained through the individual structures.

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Streets and neighbourhoods at Glanum and Saint-Romain-en-Gal

Glanum, near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, follows a narrow valley beneath the Alpilles. A principal street connects residential and bathing areas with the civic centre and the older sanctuary around a spring. Drains, pipes and channels accompanied the buildings. Roman construction occupied a settlement with earlier local and Greek-influenced phases, so its public spaces grew within an inherited site.

At Saint-Romain-en-Gal, beside the Rhône opposite Vienne, the excavated district includes large courtyard houses, baths, workshops, warehouses and shops. Underfloor heating and fragments of wall paintings record the fittings of individual buildings. The remains bring prosperous residences and commercial premises into the same neighbourhood, with service installations beneath the decorated rooms.

Arles Arena’s galleries and entrances

Arles Arena retains two levels of exterior arcades around an elliptical arena. Circular galleries, stairs and passages distributed spectators through the building and separated their routes from those used for performances. The seating was divided into sections for different social groups, reached through this repeated arrangement of arches.

Much of the ancient seating and the uppermost exterior storey have disappeared. Medieval towers belong to the building’s later use as a defended settlement, while modern restoration has consolidated its surviving masonry. The exterior arcades and internal circulation spaces remain the clearest evidence of the Roman arena’s construction.

Maison Carrée’s columned porch

The Maison Carrée at Nîmes stands on a high podium approached by a single staircase. Six Corinthian columns face the square, with a deep porch leading to the enclosed sanctuary. Along the sides, columns attached to the walls continue the exterior rhythm without creating an open walkway around the building.

Carved acanthus scrolls, rosettes and mouldings decorate the frieze and cornice. The original interior decoration is lost, and the porch ceiling and entrance door include nineteenth-century replacements. Its surviving exterior nevertheless preserves the front-facing arrangement of a Roman temple associated with the imperial cult.

The Gier aqueduct’s arcades and pressure pipes

The Gier aqueduct carried water towards Lyon using buried channels, tunnels, arcades and inverted siphons. Long stretches of arches survive at Chaponost, where diamond-patterned stone facing alternates with bands of brick. These elevated sections maintained the channel’s route across the plateau.

At deeper valleys, water descended through pipes from a high reservoir and rose again on the opposite side under pressure. Surviving reservoirs and pipe outlets identify parts of this system. The aqueduct therefore combined open-channel flow with pressurised crossings, choosing different structures according to the terrain.

Vaulted service rooms at Cassinomagus

The baths at Cassinomagus, modern Chassenon, preserve a large complex built on two levels. Bathers used the upper rooms, while staff and technical installations occupied spaces below. Supporting vaults compensated for the slope and carried the bathing floors, with some walls still rising several metres.

The layout was broadly symmetrical, with routes through different groups of rooms. An aqueduct supplied the precinct, and passages beneath its arches allowed movement around the buildings. The surviving lower spaces give particular detail about the construction and servicing of a public bathing establishment.

Séviac’s reception rooms and mosaic floors

The villa at Séviac developed around a square courtyard garden with colonnaded galleries. Reception rooms, domestic accommodation and routes towards the baths opened from these walks. Successive late antique alterations enlarged the eastern reception space and changed parts of the bathing suite.

Extensive mosaics cover galleries, rooms and bathing areas. Geometric patterns give way to plant imagery in later pavements, including the Mosaic of the Trees in the enlarged reception room. A mosaic- and marble-decorated pool also survives. Protective roofing and conservation preserve these floors within the layout of the residence.

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