COLLECTIONS ARCHÉOLOGIQUES (PALAIS VIEUX)
These collections occupy the oldest part of the Archbishop's Palace and owe their existence to Paul Tournal
The Archbishop's Palace is currently undergoing a comprehensive renovation and restructuring project. The city's Roman collections will soon join the Narbo Via Museum.
The archaeological collections occupy the oldest part of the Archbishop's Palace, which dates from 1833: the Old Palace. These collections owe their existence to Paul Tournal, a local scholar. The most significant elements concern the Roman period and relate the life and history of Narbo-Martius through the different rooms: fresco paintings from the ancient district of Clos de la Lombarde, among the richest in the Roman world, lapidary collection that evokes the importance of Narbonne, former capital of the Roman province, fragments of a triumphal arch, altar of the peace of Augustus, portrait of Antony, former governor, statue of drunken Silenus, sarcophagus of the Harvesting Lovers, paleochristian sarcophagi, lintel of the primitive cathedral. There are also tools, mosaics, jewellery, ceramics and an impressive Roman anchor made of oak and lead. The section devoted to excavation and restoration techniques is followed by an evocation of Roman domestic architecture and an incredible presentation, unique in France, of the painted and mosaic decorations that adorned the walls, ceilings and floors of the main rooms of the porticoed house. Magnificently restored, they are one of the jewels of the archaeological collections.
En espérant que ces collections seront mises en valeur