St-Romain (Blaye)
The Saint-Romain basilica in Blaye on the Gironde dates back to the second half of the 4th century. It was built as a church of the Holy Sepulcher on two floors for the ascetic Romanus (Saint Romain), who is regarded as a missionary in the Blayais region .
Later Saint-Romain became the necropolis of the Merovingian kings of Aquitaine , where Charibert II († 632) and his son Chilperic are buried. According to tradition, Saint-Romain is also the church where Hruotland (Roland), Count of the Breton Marks who died in the Battle of Roncesvalles , was buried in 778 . In the 9th century, the remains of St. Sicharius were reburied in the crypt .
In the Middle Ages, the Saint-Romain basilica was one of the stops on the Way of St. James , specifically the Via Turonensis to Santiago de Compostela . After severe damage during the Huguenot Wars , it was rebuilt in the 16th century, although the importance of the church as a destination for pilgrims gradually came to a standstill. At the end of the 17th century, the basilica was finally demolished to make way for the glacis of the Blaye Citadel .
Archaeological excavations that began in 1969 rediscovered the basilica's foundations. In addition, several capitals came to light that date from the 6th to 9th centuries and are now exhibited in the archaeological museum.
The basilica was replaced from 1667 by the church of Sainte-Romain, today's parish church of Blaye.
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Coordinates: 45 ° 7 ′ 43 ″ N , 0 ° 39 ′ 40 ″ W.