Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The archaeological site of Cherré, located in the hamlet of Aubigné-Racan (Sarthe, Pays de la Loire), is a major protohistoric and ancient complex. Occupied from the Bronze Age, it was first a hallstattian and latenian necropolis, marked by tumulus, burials and deposits of ritual weapons. These vestiges bear witness to an early occupation linked to the Gaulish peoples of the Andécaves, Aulerques Cenomans and Turons, with a strong cult and warrior vocation, notably through sacrifices of arms and animals in marshy areas.

From the end of the 1st century AD, the site is transformed into a monumental Gallo-Roman complex, reaching its peak in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It spans over 40 hectares and includes a 3,000-seat theatre, a market-forum, two temples (including one inspired by the Maison Carrée de Nîmes), thermal baths, and an underground aqueduct of 4.5 km. Although not permanently occupied, Cherré served as a seasonal gathering place for commercial, religious and cultural activities, probably related to imperial worship or a warrior cult.

The abandonment of the site occurred in the fourth century, possibly because of economic, political or the emergence of Christianity. Its ruins, known from the 18th century, were identified as ancient in 1875 and systematically searched from 1976. The excavations, led by Claude Lambert and Jean Rioufreyt, revealed remarkable structures such as the theatre, the forum-market (macellum), and a Celto-Roman temple decorated with frescoes and opus spicatum decorations. The materials of monuments, such as the local russard sandstone, were reused in the Middle Ages to build nearby Romanesque churches.

The site, classified in 1975 and protected as historical monuments in 1982 and 1991, is now owned by the Sarthe department. Since the 2000s, improvements have been made to facilitate public access, including a reception building, explanatory panels and guided tours. Cherré is considered a rare example of a "dominant religious secondary agglomeration" in the West of Gaul, with no evidence of permanent habitat but with an exceptional monumental adornment for the region.

Its natural environment, marked by the meandering of the Loir and ancient marsh areas, influenced its development, notably through a sophisticated drainage system. Aqueduct, fed by local sources such as Chenon's, supplied the monuments with water, while secondary roads connected Cherré to the major axes of the region, such as the Tours-Le Mans road. The discovery in 2001 of a bronze bust of Love, probably imported from Rome or Alexandria, near a nearby villa, highlights the cultural and economic exchanges of the site.

Cherré's toponymy, attested as early as 616 in the form Karaico, could derive from the Latin carrus (char), evoking a place of passage or commerce. The excavations also revealed a Merovingian or Carolingian necropolis, confirming a funeral re-use of the site after antiquity. Today, Cherré combines archaeological and natural heritage, integrated into protection programmes such as Natura 2000, while remaining a subject of study to understand the dynamics of Gallo-Roman secondary agglomerations.

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