You are here
Roman carving at Vaison La Romaine
Vaison La Romaine, a wonderful market town with a population of about 6,500 persons, is very close to my heart and I visit there a lot. The town is situated in the Vaucluse region of France about 45 minutes north of Avignon - great Rhone wines - Gigondas, Sablet etc. - not far from Chateauneuf du Pap and Beaumes-de-Venise.
However, wines are not what I want to discuss here today. Today it's roman carving - the real stuff that we still copiously copy over two thousand years later.
The Romans conquered the area a little over 100 years BC and integrated with the local tribe well enough to form a residential and business centre that lasted for about 500 years - before those barbarians swept through Europe changing the map with all that pillaging and whatnot.
The incredible buildings were then mined for their stone and eventually became covered with earth until the mid 19th Century, when an extensive dig was organised. The locals realising that they had a tourist bonanza on their hands, added "Romaine" to the town's name.
When I say incredible buildings - some of the villas were over 2,000 sq. metres, had toilets, heating, hot water, gardens and pools
