Archaeological excavations recently carried out at the Saint-Jean de Sorde abbey, located in the Landes, have uncovered a vast Gallo-Roman palace rich in mosaics.
Even today, archaeologists are unearthing real architectural treasures on French territory. Excavations completed no later than October 25 revealed everything a Gallo-Roman palace under the Saint-Jean de Sorde abbeyin Sorde-l’Abbaye, a village in the Landes.
Its presence under the religious establishment is known since the 1960smore the Sordus projectbringing together archaeologists, historians, architects and geologists, brought it to light.
The villa, dating from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD., was probably an aristocratic and farming residenceaccording to experts. It stretched over a total area of 6,000 square meterswhich would make it one of the largest in Aquitaine.
“You have to imagine an immense aristocratic residence, with a residential part and another dedicated on the farm. These people came from the town, probably Dax, located an hour away by cart.”illustrious Laurent Callegarin, professor of history and archeology at the University of Pau, who participated in the research, cited by Le Figaro.
This discovery also revealed mosaics dating from the 5th century AD.decorated with geometric and plant shapes. They belong to the ancient villa. “They represent braids, interlacing, plant motifsivy and flowers typical of the Aquitaine mosaic school of late Antiquity”, explained to France 3 Louis Lopeteguy, doctoral student at the University of Bordeaux who is doing his thesis on the monument, and present at the time of the excavations.
Saint-Jean de Sorde, from yesterday to today
Saint-Jean de Sorde Abbey tells a long story. Three historical periods followed one another and superimposed, as indicated by our colleagues. On the ruins of the gallo-romaine villa was built a monastery from the 10th century until the end of the Middle Ages, before being recovered by a congregation of Benedictines from Paris from the 17th century until the French Revolution.
Open to visitors all year round, it is today classified as a Historic Monument and included on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Routes of Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle in France.
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