Logo Musée du Patrimoine

All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

Archaeological Museum of Argentomagus à Argenton-sur-Creuse dans l'Indre

Indre

Archaeological Museum of Argentomagus

    4 Rue du Point du Jour
    36200 Argenton-sur-Creuse
Crédit photo : Siannan13 - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Paléolithique
Mésolithique
Néolithique
Âge du Bronze
Âge du Fer
Antiquité
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1505000 av. J.-C.
1504900 av. J.-C.
100 av. J.-C.
1500
1900
2000
15 000 ans (Paléolithique supérieur)
Magdalenian occupation
Iᵉʳ siècle av. J.-C.
Construction of Gallic oppidum
1566
First written entry
Années 1960-1970
Intensive search
1990
Opening of the museum
2022
Label Remarkable Contemporary Architecture
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Key figures

Jean Chaumeau - History First to mention Argentomagus in 1566.
Brochet de Vérigny - Prefect and scholar Search of the theatre of the Virou in 1820.
Jacques Allain - Physician and archaeologist Leads the excavations of the 1960s and 1970s.
Gérard Coulon - Archaeologist Rescue rounds before building the museum.

Origin and history

The archaeological site of Argentomagus, located on the Mersans limestone plateau in Saint-Marcel, dominates the Creuse valley. Occupied since Prehistory, it was a Gaulish oppidum of the Bituriges Cubes before becoming a major Gallo-Roman city, Argantomago, mentioned on the Table of Puisinger. Its theatre, its temples and its walled rampart (I century BC) testify to its strategic importance at the junction of the Central Massif and the Paris Basin.

The first records of the site date back to 1566 in the History of the Berry by Jean Chaumeau. In the 19th century, local scholars such as Brochet de Verigny or Nicolas Ligne explored the remains, but it was in the 1960s and 1970s that excavations intensified under the impulse of Dr. Jacques Allain. The creation of the Association for the Protection of the Argentomagus Archaeological Site in 1962 marks a turning point, leading to the abandonment of a real estate project in favour of the preservation of the site.

The museum, inaugurated in 1990 after rescue excavations led by Gérard Coulon, incorporates an archaeological crypt revealing remains in situ. Ranked "Museum of France" in 2003, it offers a chronological route from the Prehistory (Majdalenian caves of the Garenne, 15,000 years old) to Gallo-Roman Antiquity, with reconstructions (hutte de Lavaud, 1.1 million years old) and local objects. Its contemporary architecture, labeled "Remarkable Architecture" in 2022, marries the remains via accessible spiral ramps.

The excavations exhumed a monumental ensemble: two superimposed temples, a sacred fountain, domus, a basilica, and a sanctuary overlooking the theatre. The city, which had become fabrica armorum (a fabric of arms) in the Lower Empire, was a road junction linked to eight roads, some of which were pre-Romanes. La Creuse, navigable, completed this network. The remains, classified as Historic Monuments since 1964, have since 2015-2019 benefited from landscape developments that set the context of the second century, the height of the site.

LASSAAM plays a key role in research, education and site valuation, supporting Collective Research Projects (CRP) and exhibitions. The museum, the first site of the Centre-Val de Loire, is distinguished by its interactive museum: educational films, manipulations (wax tables, Roman locks), and models of monuments. His journey covers daily life (metallurgy, commerce, funeral rites) and cults, illustrated by a bronze statuette of Mercury.

In 2010-2011, a major renovation modernizes spaces, integrating photovoltaic glazing. The Roman garden, created in 2004 with 150 ancient species, and the gazebo with a view of the excavations complete the visitor experience. The site, now managed by the Communauté de Communes Éguzon-Argenton-Vallée de la Creuse, combines scientific preservation and public mediation, inviting a journey of more than one million years.

External links