Carroll, M. (2026). "The House aux Fleurons (boulevard de la Paix)." Gardens of the Roman Empire, accessed October 2, 2026. https://roman-gardens.github.io/id/1046237f8f/

The House aux Fleurons (boulevard de la Paix)

Published: 2026-10-01
Last modified: 2026-10-02

Dates

end of first century CE to third century CE

Excavation Dates

1977

Place Description

Durocortorum was mentioned by Caesar as the center of the Remi, a Celtic tribe that sided with the Romans against the Belgians. It then became a federated city, nominally independent. Under Augustus, it became the capital of Gallia Belgica. Many vestiges indicate that it was densely settled and unusually extensive. A network of water supply and sewers has been found; an aqueduct brought water from 40 kilometers. The cardo and decumanus are still identifiable today by vestiges of four gates with arches, the northern one still standing; they cardo and decumanus intersect at the present Place Royale. Today, the city is known for its magnificent Gothic cathedral and its fine champagnes.

Garden Description

Known since 1840 because of the discovery of important mosaics, this house in the eastern part of the Roman town was explored in an emergency excavation in 1977 under the direction of Robert Neiss. Nearly 650 square meters have been unearthed, and the total size must have been at least 1000 square meters. (Fig. 1)The site was occupied by a modest structure until the end of the first century, when the new house was built. Occupation continued into the third century.

Along the north side runs a secondary street following the orientation of the town in Augustan times. Along this street, in the northern part of the house, a series of rooms with mosaics were found. On the south side, the space A (about 30 x 14 m) was probably a garden. The central part, surrounded on three sides by porticos, had two wide trenches (a) cut into the chalk and filled with clay, a strong indication of a garden. The trenches seem to be connected on the south side, and the south wall seems to be the limit of the parcel.

Bibliography

  • Ch. Loriquet, La mosaïque des Promenades et autres trouvées à Reims, Reims, 1862 (worldcat)
  • D.R.A.H..A., La Bourse du Travail à Reims, Bulletin de la société archéologique champenoise, n°4, 1977, p. 77-79. (worldcat)
  • R. Neiss, La structure urbaine de Reims antique et son évolution du Ier au IIIe siècle après J.-C. Les villes de la Gaule Belgique au Haut-Empire, in: Actes du colloque tenu à Saint-Riquier (Somme). Revue archéologique de Picardie, n°3-4, 1984, p. 171-191, (worldcat)
  • A. Balmelle, R. Neiss, Les maisons de l'élite à Durocortorum, in Archéologie urbaine à Reims, Bulletin de la société archéologique champenoise, t. 96, 2003, 4, p. 74. (worldcat)

Keywords

Places