You wouldn't know to look at it now, but under the very ordinary 1990s plaza in front of Tours Cathedral are some amazing Roman bits.
Why they have been reburied I don't know - although I guess it has to do with preservation. Why they had to be reburied under something quite so anodyne is a complete mystery.
If you want to go looking, there are some Gallo-Roman excavations still visible in Tours near Place Plumereau. In addition, the ampitheatre and roman walls are still more or less visible on the ground, and a number of very early christian churches still contain roman elements. Wikipedia is extremely good for details, even if finding the entries is a bit hit and miss.
The one I am waiting for are the pilings of the Roman bridge across the Loire which are still visible when the water is low. Roll on a dry summer.
The top photo is one I found online ages ago of the excavations in 1996. If it is your photo, please contact us so I can properly attribute it.
1 comment:
Thanks once again for triggering memories. We left the Tours area in 1995...it seems like the excavations were at least going to start by then, and I think I saw the site as you show it in a visit around 1996.
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