Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint Martin in Luxeuil-les-Bains finds its origins in a Roman domus of the second century, abandoned in the fourth century and replaced by a pagan necropolis. In the 5th and 6th centuries, a paleo-Christian funeral basilica was erected there, linked to the rise of the monastery founded by St. Colomban (540–615). This site becomes a place of major burial, with a crypt housing the tomb of Saint Valbert (circa 575–668), abbot of the monastery, transforming the church into a place of pilgrimage from the 7th century.

In the 9th century, the church was rebuilt by integrating primitive sarcophagi and a memorial apse. It passed from a monastic to parish use between the 12th and 13th centuries, before being destroyed in 1797. The 2006–2009 excavations, conducted by INRAP under the direction of Sébastien Bully, reveal 125 exceptionally preserved Merovingian sarcophagi, as well as a seventh century crypt. These remains, classified as historical monuments in 2010, are now presented in the CIAP Ecclesia, an interpretive centre opened in 2018.

The archaeological site, renamed Ecclesia, highlights the evolution of the place: from the Roman domus to the Merovingian necropolis, then to the monastic and parish church. The sarcophagi, among the most important in eastern France, bear witness to a variety of funeral practices (tail boxes, stone walls). The architecture of the crypt of Saint Valbert, rare for the Merovingian period, emphasizes the sacred character of the site, linked to the cult of relics and the influence of Colomban.

The rediscovery of the site has documented the transition between paganism and Christianity in the region, as well as the spatial organization of the upper medieval necropolises. The educational course of the CIAP, designed by architect Michel Malcotti, offers an immersion in these historical strata, from the Gallo-Roman foundations to the Carolingian monastic peak. The 2010 classification protects a unique archaeological complex, owned by the town of Luxeuil-les-Bains.

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