A two-thousand-year-old mausoleum has been emerging at the ancient Gallo-Roman city of Vienne in southeastern France. The structure had formed part of a seven-hectare urban complex revealing an aristocratic residential district that dated to when Vienne became a Roman colony in 47 BCE. The site of Saint-Romain-en-Gal was one of the largest urban complexes of Gallo-Roman civilization uncovered in France, according to Le Figaro.
The mausoleum, discovered in summer 2024 during excavations conducted by the Gallo-Roman Museum of Saint-Romain-en-Gal in the Rhône, stood about six meters high with an estimated inner diameter of 15 meters. Archaeologists called the find exceptional in France due to its scale and state of preservation. Only about two meters of the monument were cleared, and only in places.
The mausoleum displayed prestigious architecture and was similar to the Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome, a type reserved for the elite of the Empire. “This gives an idea of the importance of its owner. The building must have dominated the entire landscape, been seen from afar because the dead, in the Roman world, are supposed to still be in the world of the living and must mark their presence there,” said Giulia Ciucci, a doctor in archaeology and site manager.
Initial hypotheses suggest the mausoleum likely belonged to an illustrious figure of Vienne, probably “well in favor” in the Rome of Emperor Augustus, who reigned from 27 BCE to 14 CE, and close to imperial power. It was probably built between the end of the 1st century BCE and the earliest centuries of the Common Era.
An excavation team confirmed last week that fieldwork had to stop at the end of August and would not resume until the summer of 2026, according to Le Parisien. Archaeologists and students remained on site for the final days of the season, excavating with fine trowels and small shovels, and said they were eager to continue the work when they return in two years.
The goal for future seasons was to excavate the burial chamber and, if possible, learn the identity of the person who may lie there. Complete excavation could allow access to inscriptions identifying the deceased. “Most burial chambers, in France or Italy, have been looted since antiquity, but who knows...” said Ciucci.
The discovery came after a suspension of excavations for more than a decade; archaeology students and their teachers reopened a training site in 2024. They initially searched for a large mosaic - specifically, the rest of the mosaic of a domus discovered in 1890 - but instead encountered the upper part of the mausoleum. “A very great surprise, very moving,” said Ciucci.
At another excavation site, future archaeologists and their teachers uncovered the remains of three shops. “The shops will help to better understand the last stage of economic exchanges in Antiquity, quite little known: that of the shopkeepers and local commerce,” said archaeologist Benjamin Clément, who directed the excavation.
Since the end of the 19th century, excavations at Saint-Romain-en-Gal revealed the aristocratic city known in Latin as Vienna, and the find added a rare monumental tomb to that picture. “This type of mausoleum, we have counted 18 in France until now, but very few are visible because they are covered by more recent constructions or not as well preserved,” said Ciucci.
The preparation of this article relied on a news-analysis system.