Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The archaeological museum of Vieux-la-Romaine, inaugurated in 2002, is located on the ancient Roman city of Aregenua, capital of the Viducas, a Gallic people. Founded in the first century under Augustus, the city reached its peak in the second-third centuries, housing about 5,000 inhabitants on 30-37 hectares. It declines after the third century, losing its status as capital in favour of Augustostodurum (Bayeux) around 400. The site, excavated from the 17th century, reveals a forum, a theatre, thermal baths, and two emblematic villas: the house with the big peristyle (II-III centuries) and the house with the courtyard in U (I-II centuries).

Modern excavations, relaunched in the 1980s, led to the creation of the museum in 2002, designed to enhance discoveries, including frescoes, mosaics and carved columns. The house with a large peristyle, discovered between 1988 and 1991, is the most remarkable Gallo-Roman villa in Gaul, with a luxurious decor. The museum also exhibits everyday objects (ceramics, tools) and architectural elements, such as the tutela, a protective statue found in the villa. A virtual tour (2013) and reconstructions (Carolingian farm) complete the educational offer.

The site includes several key monuments: the forum (II century), administrative and religious center with a temple and shops; theatre, transformed into arena in the second century; and the thermal baths, partially exhumed in the eighteenth century. The 19th century excavations, carried out by the Normandy Antiquarian Society, revealed fragments of marble and structures such as the curia. In the 21st century, the museum enriched with temporary exhibitions (e.g. "High in colour!" in 2011 on Roman frescoes) and events like the Night of Museums. The site, managed by the Calvados Department, attracts approximately 25,000 visitors annually.

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