✨BREAKING PARIS HISTORY NEWS !✨
In the heart of the famous Luxembourg gardens (or the “Jardin Luco” if you’re a local), significant archeological artifacts have been unearthed!
If you don’t already know, these gardens are a historical hotbed of Paris history; all kinds of relics are buried deep beneath the iconic Fermod chairs and statues of illustrious French women from the past.
I spent part of this morning in the legendary Latin Quarter garden (thankfully within 1km of my home!) harassing park staff and construction workers for information after an informer notified me of this recent discovery. (even the Sénat, who own the garden- hasn’t acknowledged this discovery yet!)
It turns out that while work crews were recently in the process planting trees, they struck archeological gold in two separate parts of the park (see photo with map).
The first trench to the south reveals a section of the 400 year-old aqueduct built to water the fountains and gardens of the original Luxembourg palace built by Queen Marie de Médicis in the early half of the 17th century. (see photo) After speaking with the head honcho of the gardens, unearthing the aqueduct was no big surprise- however the ancient “puit” (well) next to it was certainly unexpected! (see photo I quickly snapped after a discreet jump over the barrier) The date of the well is unknown, but probably from the 1st or 2nd century.
Just north of here and next to the picturesque Medici Fountain (currently being renovated), another trench reveals other fascinating discoveries.
The base of a column was dug up (see photo) along with part of a stone wall. I chatted with the official photographer of the Senat and gardens (super friendly guy with the most infectious laugh, see photo) while he was snapping pics and he gave me some theories.
The roots of modern Paris actually stem from 2,000 years ago when Paris was a Gallo-Roman city known as Lutèce. What many tourists don’t realize is that this area of the city goes back a hell of a lot longer than the Eiffel Tower and Marie Antoinette. The “rive gauche” (left bank) of Paris once was a thriving Roman city, kind of like a mini Rome; complete with baths and a colosseum.
According to maps from this period (see photos), this section of the Luxembourg gardens was located in the city center of Lutèce. While research into these findings is just beginning, he told me archeologists are anticipating this wall and column base to be vestiges from this period, possibly even the foundation of a villa. He also mentioned that this sort of thing happens all the time here; in 1974 a tomb dating from 40BC was dug up during construction work at the Senat.
This all reminded me of when I was a history student 7 years ago and during a field trip to these gardens my professor told us it was common knowledge among archeologists that the history of Paris is embedded beneath this soil but unable to be studied without digging up the entirety of the gardens.
Only through projects such as this one; planting trees! will we be able to get brief glimpses into past.
So there you have it! If you live in the area or know someone who might be interested in seeing 2,000 year old Paris history, make sure you stop by the gardens and check it out for yourself before its all reburied to be uncovered in maybe another millennia or two. 😉