An ancient city in the Alpilles
In the 6th century BC, the Salyes, a Gallic people, settled in the valley that crosses the Alpilles. This place is ideal for founding a city: it is located at the crossroads of several traffic routes, which facilitates trade, while providing a natural rampart in case of enemy attacks. The Gauls named their oppidum Glanon and became the Glanics.
From the 6th to the 2nd century BC, the inhabitants of Glanon were influenced by Greek culture. Trade was frequent with Massalia, the future Marseille. The Gallic know-how in terms of architecture and town planning, political and social organization, had been considerably modified: their culture became Gallo-Greek. The city then presented many typically Greek buildings: agora serving as a meeting place for the people, macellum to host the market, bouleuterion allowing the meeting of the notables of Glanon to decide laws, etc. The layout of the houses built at that time was typical of the one found in Greece back then, with an inner courtyard surrounded by columns and a basin for collecting rainwater. A monument was built near the spring to collect water from the sacred spring.
When Caesar conquered Gaul in the 1st century BC, Glanon became Glanum and the center was destroyed. Roman monuments were built over the ruins and the buildings that governed the political life of the city were replaced by the forum, the basilica, and the curia. Some houses were replaced by thermal baths. The constructions around the sacred spring were extended to include the Roman deities associated with the cult of water.
The barbarians invaded the city in the 3rd century AD. Glanum was then plundered and destroyed. The inhabitants had no choice but to leave and they settled several hundred meters further north: the village of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence was born. The ancient city was transformed into a quarry, people would come to recover the stones to build the new town.
Glanum was gradually covered by alluvium, debris carried by running water. The mausoleum paying homage to a Gallic family, the Julii, and the Triumphal Arch which served as the gateway to the city were the only buildings still visible in the 16th century: they are nicknamed the Antiques. It was not until 1921 that Jules Formigé, the chief architect of Historical Monuments, initiated the excavations and the site was cleared.
