Burgundy: The Splendid Duchy. Stories and Sketches in South BurgundyAllen, Percy
History
Burgundy: The Splendid Duchy. Stories and Sketches in South Burgundy
Allen, Percy
Burgundy (France) -- Description and travel
There is no better spot than the Pierre de Couhard from which to
picture Augustodunum as it was on that day when Constantine rode
through the Porte de Rome, now known as the Porte des Marbres, which
then stood where the cemetery now abutts on to the end of the Rue de la
Jambe de Bois. Thence the main street of the city, the Voie d'Agrippa,
bordered by the important and imposing buildings, such as the Temple
of Apollo, the Schools, the Forum, and the Capitol, ran in a straight
line to the Porte d'Arroux, nearly in the direction of the Temple of
Janus, still faintly visible to-day, far away on the plain beyond the
river. This Voie d'Agrippa roughly bisected the Roman town, all the
streets of which were laid out, like those of a modern American City,
either parallel or at right angles to that axial line. Augustodunum,
though it lacked the lovely gables, lofty spires, and pleasant disorder
of Gothic Autun, must yet have shown to the traveller looking back from
the road to Rome, a splendid pile of temples and palaces and gardens,
as his glance wandered from the gleaming marble gates, and the flashing
dome of the Capitol, to the majestic arches and sculptured columns and
colonnades of the great arena and lovely theatre, whose ruins are yet
seen through the avenue of lime trees, above the ivy-crowned stones of
the ancient enceinte.[23]
Lovely is this spectacle, even to-day. On the left, to the south-west,
the mediæval city, the Castrum, lifts its pile of gabled, palace roofs
above the sombre firs, and line of bronzed fortresses, walls, and
leaf-clad towers that mark the Roman enceinte. Higher yet, over all,
the spires and pinnacles of the cathedral of St. Lazare glitter against
the background of hills.
On the way back, our attention was divided between the glories of that
view, and the "chasse aux poules" or chicken hunt--the one form of
sport indulged in by the old ladies of a Burgundian village.
A very few hours in Autun were enough to reveal the fact that this
largest Gallo-Roman city of Burgundy contains Roman remains as
interesting as any in France, known to me, excepting those of Nimes,
Orange, and Arles; while, around two of them--the Temple of Janus[24]
and the Pierre de Couhard--there still lingers an element of mystery
that renders them doubly attractive to the curious mind.
The "Temple de Janus" lies, as the reader will remember, at the foot
of Autun, in the meadow beside the Arroux. Its original purpose is
doubtful. M. Viollet le Duc held it to be a Fort Détaché, built outside
the ramparts, for the purpose of barring the passage of the river,
and commanding the plain.[25] M. de Fontenay, on the other hand,
asserts,--and I venture to think proves,--that the building was not
designed for military purposes, and was, in fact, a temple; though
there is no evidence to tell us to which deity it was dedicated.[26]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account