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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Milestone of Solaize is a Roman monument dating precisely from the year 43, thanks to its inscription mentioning Emperor Claude. Tailed in Fay Choin – a hard limestone mined near Peyrieu (Ain) – it attests to the early exploitation of this Roman-dominated quarry. Its complete inscription, including the imperial title (pontifex maximus, trionicia potestate III, etc.), makes it a key chronological landmark to date other Lyon constructions, such as the Fourvière theatre, built with the same material.

This terminal marked the Compendinum, a Roman shortcut between Lugdunum (Lyon) and Vienna (Vienna), on the left bank of the Rhone. It indicates a distance of 7 miles (10.5 km), although its current location – at the entrance to Solaize on the Vernaison road – probably does not correspond to its original location. If the count were to start from Vienna (14 km away), it would suggest a further northward shift. The main track was along the right bank of the river.

Ranked a historic monument in 1910, the pillar illustrates the Roman road organization in Gaul. Its material, Fay's rare and durable choice, was popular for public buildings. It thus offers a double testimony: on Roman construction techniques and on the administrative geography of the Lyon region in the first century. Its state of conservation and its current location (23 Rue de Chantabeau) make it an accessible heritage, although its initial archaeological context remains uncertain.

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