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Let's discover Cimiez archaeological site

General view | Frantz-Samy / CC-BY-SA
Gallo-Roman Cimiez archaeological site

Cemelenum

Cimiez is the old Cemelenum! Rich Romans moved here in the Ist century BC. They were 20 000 in the 2th century! On the next century, in the reign of Claudius, Cemelenum became Provincia Alpium Maritimarum, the capital city of Alpes Maritimes.

The most important road, via Julia Augusta, which linked Italy to Var departement, even went across Cimiez.

2 centuries later, in the 4th century BC, Massaliote people came and founded Nikaia city, the current Nice...

And yet, long before Romans, the Celt tribe called Vediantii raised here in Cimiez their own fortress (an oppidum): we still can see vestiges, to the south of Cimiez monastery, on a hillock...

The archaeological site is composed of the amphitheatre, thermae and Apollo’s temple.

The amphitheatre

Let’s see this theatre. People here call it "fairies' tank", tina dei fada.

It’s a modest building raised in the 1st century, with a capacity of 500 people, with wooden rows of seats. They probably organized gladiators and animals fights here.

In the 3th century, they extended it: it was 65 metres long and 55 metres large; about 6 000 spectators could enter! They also modernized it: no more wood, but stone tiers.

Thermae

There, we have the thermae, with 3 parts: Northern, Eastern, Western thermaes, each one with its own heating system, changing rooms and pools.

Northern thermae, which used to be the most beautiful one, were made for Nice’s richest persons: see the little white marble tiled floors on the wall! We found here a marble pool surrounded by a peristyle and latrines. To the north, the frigidarium (cold water room).

Then, the "tepid water room" (tepidarium) and the "hot water room" (caldarium), built on a hypocaustum, a kind of heating system. Another kind of heating system, the proefurnium, was used for the sudatorium, the "sauna bath".

Eastern thermae were made for modest people, with a less elegant decoration. Western thermae were made for women: men and women couldn’t bath together...

You know what? This part of thermae was transformed into a primitive cathedral flanked by a baptistery, in the 5th century!

26 metres long and 9 metres large, it was a kind of vast tank full of water: stairs were used by people for baptism. But, how did they bring water to those thermae? With aqueducts, of course! We had two here, the Mouraille and the Falicon (1st-2th century).

Apollo’s temple

Now, the temple... which is, in fact, a cold water room. It’s 20 metres long and 12 metres large even so!

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!