Sanxay: one of the French jewels of Gallo-Roman archaeology

The Vienne department has a real window on Antiquity with the site of Sanxay. Inhabited from the 1st to the 4th century AD, this small village was equipped with shops, a theater, a thermal complex and a vast sanctuary, facilities generally reserved for large cities located on Roman roads, which was not the case in Sanxay. Spread over about 25 hectares, this truly unique site historically extended over the two banks of a modest river, the Vonne, and its remains bear witness to an important development phase during the 2nd century AD.

At the end of the 19th century, its scientific and patrimonial value was recognized to the point that the French governement acquired it in 1884. Located 30 km from Poitiers, the historical site illustrates concretely the ambition and the know-how that the Romans were able to put at the service of their conquest of the French lands more than 2,000 years ago.