Burgundy's Battlefield of Empires: Tracing Romans and Gauls

Join us in Burgundy, the gorgeous French region served by the conjoining Rhone and Saone. This is a region where two great French passions collide: wine and food. Aside from its gastronomic pedigree, however, amidst its mustard field dotted rolling green hills, we find cobbled medieval streets, glorious Gallo-Roman and Celtic antiquity and some of the most important Western churches and monasteries of the Middle Ages.

This territory was right in the heart of Gaul, and it was here at Alesia that Julius Caesar finally conquered his Gallic opponents, thus beginning the Romanisation of the region. A statue of Vercingetorix, the Celts’ supreme commander, symbolises the extinction of the Celts’ independence and marks the place where France was born, or at least conceived.

Join Andante on their tour Romans and Gauls to trace the Romans from Alesia to Lugdunum. Discover the hidden gems of Autun and Vienne including the best-preserved Roman temple in France.

Autun & Bibracte

Autun is nestled in the Saone Valley, in the hill country of the Morvans, an unsung but lovely part of France, with the mottled greys and pinks of local granite often featured in the work of artist Pierre Bonnard. Once one of the wealthiest towns in Roman Gaul, it boasts an impressive theatre, among the largest in the empire with a capacity for 20,000 people, as well as town walls and imposing gates, together with fascinating remains of a large Romano-Celtic temple, hinting at the grandeur which stood proudly here. Nearby Bibracte is another significant spot – one of the largest and most important hillforts of Gaul and the site of Caesar’s defeat at the hands of the Helvetii tribe, the climax of his first campaign in Gaul. Caesar even mentioned Bibracte in his Commentaries on the Gallic War in 58 BC as the main town of the Aedui, a Gallic tribe. However, after the Roman conquest of Gaul, Bibracte was abandoned in favour of Autun and was left untouched, lying under woodland, until it was discovered by modern archaeology.

Lyon

In antiquity, Lyon’s position at the confluence of the Rhone and Saone placed it on an important axis linking the Mediterranean to the future interior provinces. Early Christian churches and cathedral baptistery also provide an insight into the importance of Lugdunum (the ancient name for Lyon) in late Roman times. Founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, it soon became the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. In this vibrant city, look forward to discovering the capital of the Three Gauls (Gallia Celtica, Belgica, and Aquitania) in the Gallo-Roman Museum, plus the adjacent theatre, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that encompasses Lyon’s ancient centre. There is an odeon here too, a masterpiece of Roman architecture that was built in the 2nd century AD as a more intimate venue, complete with a roof to enhance the acoustics and provide a different experience to the theatres and amphitheatres of the day. The aqueducts of the city are not to be missed too, unique in the western Roman Empire for their complexity and engineering.

Vienne

Set on the banks of the river Rhone, Vienne was once a wealthy Roman town, with evidence of their dominance throughout, making it easy to forget that this is France – not Italy! The near complete Temple of Augustus and Livia is an astonishing relic of the past, dating back to 10 BC and the former heart of this municipium, built in honour of Emperor Augustus. Vienne is also home to an impressive theatre, which could seat up to 13,000 spectators and now holds concerts and shows, as well as the Archaeological Garden of Cybele, where the crumbling walls are likely the remains of Roman Forum council members’ houses and were only discovered in recent times when an old hospital was demolished. Just across the river is St. Romain-en-Gal, a suburb that has seen vast excavation, and now has a rich display of houses and mosaics on display in situ and in the new Gallo-Roman Museum. This fascinating hub of culture offers both an interactive experience inside and an extensive outdoor area, where visitors can see the crumbling remains of the forum, bathhouses and more.

Nuits-St-Georges & Dijon Museum

After a spot of en-route wine tasting at Burgundy’s vineyards, Nuits-St-Georges awaits. Surrounded by rich and fertile soil, grapes would have been grown thousands of years ago to create wine for Roman Gaul and beyond. This historic town has been occupied since the Roman times and boasts a temple site plus a museum. Set in a former wine house, it’s home to a wide array of objects collected from local diggings, from pottery and jewellery to tools and more. Another fascinating museum is Dijon’s, housed in the former abbey of Sainte Benigne and boasting a wide variety of treasures. Just one of the highlights is the wooden Gallo-Roman statues found at Sources-de-la-Seine, a sanctuary associated with a healing cult. The many wooden, bronze, and stone ex-votos they placed there represent the parts of the human or animal body affected by disease.