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Origin and history

The oppidum of Roque de Viou, also called oppidum des Castels or Saint-Dionisy, is a major archaeological site located in the valley of the Vaunage, on horseback to the communes of Saint-Dionisy and Nages-et-Solorgues (Gard). Occupied from Neolithic time, he became a Gallic oppidum between 800 and 50 B.C., before being abandoned to the benefit of Nîmes (Nemausus) under Roman rule. Its strategic location, at an altitude of 160 meters, allowed to control the Roman routes from Nimes to Sommières and Italy to Spain via the Domitian Way.

The excavations carried out between 1958 and 1974 by Michel Py revealed four successive enclosures (290 B.C. to 10 A.D.), streets in checker, houses, and a fanum (sanctuary) destroyed by fire in the 1st century. This fire marks the permanent abandonment of the site, its migrant inhabitants towards Nîmes, the new regionalized capital. A brief reoccupation in the third century saw the construction of a fifth enclosure. The site also houses neolithic remains, discovered in 1958 at the foot of the hill.

The oppidum was a central location for the Gaulese tribe of the Arécomiques Volques, offering panoramic views of neighbouring villages such as Calvisson, Saint-Côme-et-Maruejols, and Clarensac. The Domitian Way, built from 118 B.C., and a Roman bridge still used today underline its logistical importance. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1980 and 2006, the site housed a small museum in Nages-et-Solorgues until 2023, before the dispersal of its collections.

The dry stone ramparts, watchtowers, and restored houses illustrate protohistoric urban planning. The fanum of 70 B.C. and the traces of fire testify to the transition between Gaulish culture and Romanization. The opidum still dominates the plain, offering a panorama of the surrounding villages and the neighboring opidum of Mauressip (Saint-Côme-et-Maruejols).

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