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Origin and history

Glanum is an ancient city founded by the Celto-Ligures in the 6th century BC, located near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Originally dedicated to the worship of the healing god Glanis, she experienced a strong Greek influence before joining the Roman Empire under Augustus. Its development was favored by a sacred source and its strategic position on the Domitian way, linking Italy to Hispania.

The city is divided into three major periods: celto-ligure, Hellenistic and Roman. At the Iron Age, Glanum was an oppidum protected by cliffs, with a sanctuary dedicated to Glanis. The Greek influence, coming from Marseilles, manifests itself in constructions like a bouluterion and a prytanée. Romanization, after the defeat of the Salyens in 125 B.C., introduced urban infrastructures (thermal, forum, temples) and granted Roman citizenship to the local elite.

The archaeological site reveals distinct neighborhoods: a residential area to the north with Hellenistic houses (such as the Antes house) and Roman thermal baths, a monumental center hosting the forum, twin temples and a curia, and a southern neighborhood centered on the sacred spring, surrounded by shrines such as the temple of Valeudo, dedicated by Agrippa. The source, associated with healing cults, attracted pilgrims and Roman veterans.

Two emblematic monuments, the "Antiques de Saint-Rémy", mark the entrance to the site: the Julii Cenotaph (30–20 B.C.), celebrating a Romanized local family, and the Augustian triumphal arch, symbols of Roman power. These buildings remained intact and were studied in the 16th century. Modern excavations, initiated in 1921 by Jules Formigé and Henri Rolland, exhumed strata covering nearly 1,500 years of history, until the abandonment of the city after the barbaric invasions of the third century.

The archaeological museum, located in the former hotel of Sade (XVth–XVIth centuries), exhibits the discovered artifacts, including statues, votive altars and architectural elements of the Celto-ligure, Hellenistic and Gallo-Roman periods. The site, classified as a historical monument and protected as a natural area, now benefits from developments for its preservation and tourist development, including a welcoming building and gazebos.

Glanum illustrates the cultural synthesis between Gaulish traditions, Greek contributions and Romanization, with local practices such as the exhibition of enemy heads, Gaulish cooking utensils, and syncretic cults (Hercules, Glanicae). Its decline in the third century, followed by the re-use of its stones to build Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, makes it a key testimony of ancient urbanization in Provence.

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