A rural palace with magnificent mosaics
Auteur: Gugole, Jean
Editeur: Editions Sud Ouest
Publication: 2018
ISBN: 978-2-8177-0620-7
Séviac, in Montréal-du-Gers, is an important site in the South-Western Roman Empire, famous for its 450 m2 of preserved mosaics. The Séviac villa was excavated over a period of three decades, from 1967 to 1997.
It was occupied from the 1st to the 7th centuries, and gives us an illuminating insight into the changes in lifestyle of the Aquitaine aristocracy in ancient times and the High Middle Ages. At rst the villa provided only basic comfort, although it did have its own bath house, the symbol of Roman civilisation. Then in the 4th and 5th centuries it became a veritable palace, sumptuously decorated with marble and mosaics. Christianity was adopted around 500 and the palace remained in use, although on a smaller scale, into the 6th century, before houses were built within the ruins in the 7th century. After this, the site was mainly used for funerary rites.
Séviac is now becoming an important heritage and tourist centre. Considerable scienti c research has been carried out and the site has undergone extensive improvements.
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