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Origin and history

La villa de Cheberne is a Gallo-Roman villa located in Néris-les-Bains, in the Allier department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It is located a few hundred meters southeast of the modern city, near the road of Clermont-Ferrand, on the south-east edge of the ancient agglomeration known in the 20th century. The site is close to an incineration necropolis, highlighting its integration into a broader funerary and urban complex.

The villa, organized around a peristyle courtyard, included private baths and outbuildings. It was not isolated: the excavations of the 1980s, carried out by Michel Desnoyers, revealed an urban network with streets, sewers, and workshops of glass and potters, attesting to an intense artisanal activity. These findings confirmed that Cheberne was part of a Gallo-Roman agglomeration, well beyond a simple aristocratic residence.

The site's first records date back to the 1820s when modern thermal buildings were built. The architect Louis Esmonnot reported this in 1885, while Eugene Moreau, known as "Moreau de Néris", reported the villa under the Second Empire. Recent excavations, taken from 2007, have revealed a marble plaque decorated in 2016. The site was listed as historic monuments in 1991, recognizing its heritage importance.

Successive archaeological research has highlighted the evolution of the site, from its fortuitous discovery to its understanding as a residential and artisanal complex integrated into a Gallo-Roman thermal city. The private baths and the vestiges of workshops illustrate the way of life and economic activities of the period, while the proximity of the necropolis suggests a link between habitat, crafts and funeral practices.

Registration for historic monuments in 1991 helped protect the remains, although the site remains a private property. Ongoing studies, such as the 2009 report by Jérôme Hénique, help to refine knowledge of this agglomeration, highlighting its role in the Gallo-Roman urban network of the region.

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