Gisacum

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Gisacum thermal baths

Gisacum [ ʒizakɔm ] is the archaeological site of a religiously influenced Gallo-Roman town in France . Originally the archaeological site was named after its location near the hamlet of Cracouville, which is southwest of the center of Le Vieil-Évreux . Gisacum was settled by Eburoviken . It was only about 6 kilometers from their capital Mediolanum and is now at an average altitude of 133 meters above sea ​​level in the eastern part of the municipality of le Vieil-Évreux and extends to the neighboring municipalities of the towns of Miserey , Cierrey and Le Plessis-Hébert . Gisacum and Mediolanum were connected. Mediolanum served as the secular and Gisacum as the religious capital.

history

Wall remains of the semicircular auditorium (cavea)

Gisacum was built in the first century and demolished in the first half of the 2nd century to build a new city. Gisacus was one of three city gods who were worshiped in the city's temples. Under Roman rule he was equated with Apollo , so must have had similar attributes. Apollon is the god of the sun, art and medicine. It was customary among the Eburoviks to worship groups of three gods in one place. The town flourished in the first half of the third century, then it was abandoned. Gisacum was not fortified and therefore exposed to attacks by Germanic tribes without any protection . The inhabitants moved to Mediolanum and used the buildings of Gisacum as a public quarry for the construction of the city wall of Évreux. Parts of that city wall are now exhibited in the Museum of Évreux. The Great Sanctuary was used as a necropolis from the 6th century .

The statue of Jupiter in the Museum of Evreux

In the 17th century, Louis de Boislambert, the then pastor of Le Vieil-Évreux, wrote a memorandum on the ruins of Gisacum. From 1765 to 1770 the ruins were used to build the road from Paris to Lisieux . The first excavations near Cracouville were carried out by François Rever from 1801 to 1804. He published his excavation report in 1827. By found in the ruins inscription with the name of God Gisacus (Deo Gisaco) came Auguste Le Prévost in 1828 on the idea that the place name of the ruins found in Le Vieil-Evreux former place names of Gisay (in the Pays d'Ouche met) could have. This place name was Gisacum . The localities are also linked by the veneration of Saint Taurinus of Évreux. In the legend of Taurinus a " Villa of Lucinius in Gisacum" was mentioned. There is a third community in the Eure department whose name is associated with the deity Gisacus, Gisors . The ruins at Le Vieil-Évreux had encouraged the formation of local legends. This includes the mention in the fictional biography of Taurinus, various place names and the legend of the Druidesses of Cracouville.

In 1829, De Stabenrath, the procurator of Évreux, carried out an excavation and published his report in 1831. From 1838 to 1841, Theodose Bonnin undertook important excavations. In his 1860 report, he officially named the ruins Gisacum for the first time . Bonnin found, among other things, a statue of Jupiter and one of Apollo, which are now exhibited in the museum in Évreux. From 1911 to the First World War (1914-1918) Émile Espérandieu (1857-1939) and Henri Lamiray carried out excavations. Further excavations took place from 1933 to 1939. In 1936 Marcel Baudot (1902–1992) discovered the “ Fanum der Quelle” at the thermal baths , from which it was assumed that a spring was venerated there.

In 1951 the “Fanum of Cracouville”, the Great Sanctuary, was officially classified as a Monument historique ('historical monument').

In 1976 the area was re-examined and mapped with the help of aerial archeology .

In 2002 the 2.5 hectare archaeological garden of the thermal baths was opened. It is open to visitors from March 1st to November 15th.

Construction of the temple complex

Drawing from 1841 of the excavation results of Bonnin. North is unfortunately not at the top, but at the bottom left.

The total size of Gisacum is estimated at over 400 hectares. The general plan corresponded to the classic structure of thermal baths - temple - theater . The believers first cleaned themselves in the baths before entering the temple.

A wide path ran from northeast to southwest through the temple complex and connected the various buildings. In the southwest were the thermal baths, north of them the Fanum der Quelle. To the northeast of it stood the Great Sanctuary. It had an area of ​​6.8 hectares and was about 25 feet high. It contained three groups of small temples from the 1st and 2nd centuries and three large temples from the beginning of the 3rd century. To the northeast of the Great Sanctuary stood the theater, to the north of it the forum , and to the northwest of it another temple. The temple district was surrounded by residential buildings.

The semicircular theater held about 7,000 visitors. It was about five meters high and its diameter was 106 meters.

In a semicircular building with a diameter of 35 meters, which stood by the thermal baths, numerous Gallic coins were found, most of which date from the period after the Roman occupation (after 52 BC). No objects from the post- principate period (late 3rd century) were found. For a long time the building was thought to be a nymphaeum . The walls were partly made of wood, which speaks against its use as a nymphaeum. The building was probably a market square with a small canal running through it. It was destroyed in the middle of the 3rd century and then served as a slaughterhouse for a while. In the 19th century it was a field. When plowing, bones were regularly exposed, giving the plot the name Champ des os ('bone field').

An aqueduct about 25 kilometers long ran above and below ground to Damville .

Artifacts

Statuette of Silenus from Gisacum in the Museum of Evreux

In total, statues of the gods Apollo, Heracles , Jupiter, Mercurius and Minerva were found. The two most important works of art found in Gisacum are two bronze statues from the 1st century depicting Jupiter and Apollo, respectively. The Jupiter statue is 91 centimeters high. In his hands the bearded, naked god was probably holding a weapon, a lance or a lightning bolt, whatever he was holding, it is lost. The bronze statue of Apollo is 68 centimeters high and more conventional than the statue of Jupiter. Apollon is also shown naked, but without a beard. The statue's arms are damaged. He wears a crown on his head that identifies him as a city god. Both works of art were made in local workshops and testify to the craftsmanship of the Eburoviken. In addition to these statues, a statuette of Silenus as well as various pieces of jewelry and coins were found.

literature

  • Theodose Bonnin: Antiquités gallo-romaines des Eburoviques. Publiées d'après les recherches et les feuilles dirigées . JB Dumoulin, Paris 1860 (French, online ).
  • Dominique Cliquet: L'Eure (= Michel Provost [Hrsg.]: Carte Archéologique de la Gaule . No. 27 ). Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres et al., Paris 1993, ISBN 2-87754-018-9 , chap. 329 , p. 153-176 (French).
  • François Rever: Mémoire sur les ruines du Vieil-Évreux . Ancelle, Évreux et al. 1827 (French, online - excavation report).

Web links

Commons : Gisacum  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Dominique Cliquet: L'Eure . 27. In: Michel Provost, Academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, Ministere de la culture (ed.): Carte Archéologique de la Gaule . Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris 1993, ISBN 2-87754-018-9 , p. 50 (French).
  2. ^ A b Marcel Baudot: The problem of the ruins of the Vieil-Evreux (Eure). In: Gallia Volume 1. 1943, pp. 191-206 , accessed on December 28, 2012 (French).
  3. ^ A b Dossier pédagogique Visite du site archéologique de Gisacum. (PDF; 4.0 MB) In: l'Eure en Ligne. Conseil Général de l'Eure, 2010, p. 3f , accessed on September 7, 2012 (French).
  4. ↑ a b c Dossier pédagogique Visite du site archéologique de Gisacum. (PDF; 4.0 MB) In: l'Eure en Ligne. Conseil Général de l'Eure, 2010, pp. 5 + 17 , accessed on December 19, 2012 (French).
  5. ↑ a b c d Dossier pédagogique Visite du site archéologique de Gisacum. (PDF; 4.0 MB) In: l'Eure en Ligne. Conseil Général de l'Eure, 2010, pp. 8–11 , accessed on 7 September 2012 (French).
  6. ^ Dominique Cliquet: L'Eure . 27. In: Michel Provost, Academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, Ministere de la culture (ed.): Carte Archéologique de la Gaule . Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris 1993, ISBN 2-87754-018-9 , chap. 329 , p. 175 f . (French).
  7. ↑ a b c d e f Jean Mineray: Évreux . Histoire de la ville à travers les âges. Éditions Bertout, Luneray 1988, ISBN 2-86743-062-3 , pp. 16-19 (French).
  8. ^ Dominique Cliquet: L'Eure . 27. In: Michel Provost, Academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, Ministere de la culture (ed.): Carte Archéologique de la Gaule . Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris 1993, ISBN 2-87754-018-9 , p. 37 (French).
  9. ↑ Theodose Bonnin: Antiquités Gallo-romaines of Eburoviques: Publiées d'après les recherches et les feuilles dirigées . JB Dumoulin, Paris 1860, p. 13 ( limited preview in Google Book Search - inscription of the marble tablet, French / Latin).
  10. ^ Auguste Le Prévost: Mémoire sur la châsse de St.-Taurin d'Evreux . In: Société des antiquaires de Normandie (ed.): Mémoires de la Société des antiquaires de Normandie . tape 4 . Mancel, Caen 1928, p. 304 f . (French, online [accessed September 8, 2012]).
  11. ^ Ernest Nègre: Toponymie générale de la France . tape 1 . Librairie Droz, 1990, ISBN 978-2-600-02884-4 , pp. 197 (French, limited preview in Google Book search).
  12. ^ A b Dominique Cliquet: L'Eure . 27. In: Michel Provost, Academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, Ministere de la culture (ed.): Carte Archéologique de la Gaule . Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris 1993, ISBN 2-87754-018-9 , chap. 329 , p. 153 (French).
  13. ↑ Entry no. PA00099625 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  14. ^ Jean-Noël Le Borgne, Véronique Le Borgne, Pascale Eudier, Annie Etienne: Archeologie Aérienne dans l'Eure . Ed .: Association Archéo 27. Page de Garde, Caudebec-les-Elbeuf 2002, ISBN 2-84340-230-1 , p. 50-52 (French).
  15. ↑ Gisacum, ville enfouie. Le Jardin Archéologique des thermes. (No longer available online.) In: l'Eure en Ligne. Conseil général de l'Eure, archived from the original on November 5, 2012 ; Retrieved January 1, 2013 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cg27.fr
  16. ^ Dossier pédagogique Visite du site archéologique de Gisacum. (PDF; 4.0 MB) In: l'Eure en Ligne. Conseil Général de l'Eure, 2010, pp. 12 + 25 , accessed on December 19, 2012 (French).