Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Gallo-Roman thermal baths of Entrammes, discovered in 1987 during the restoration of the church, date from the middle of the second century. Their particularity lies in their partial conservation in elevation, including a south wall of more than 8,50 m high and an intact hypocauste. These remains, integrated into the structure of the present church, reveal a prolonged use until the fifth century, before their transformation into a place of paleo-Christian worship in the seventh century.

The archaeological excavation revealed four enfilade pieces (frigidarium, tepidarium, caldarium and cella solaris), as well as an outdoor boiler room. A late capital and elements such as an ambon or bell mussels attest to the site's reuse. The thermal course, atypical, required users to loop, with successive steps in the warm, warm and cold rooms.

The history of the site is marked by major changes: the removal of the north wall in 1544, then the enlargement of the church in the nineteenth century, which partially altered the remains. Ranked historic monuments in 1988, the thermal baths are now separated from the cultural space by a wall, allowing their visit. Their rarity, especially north of the Loire, raises questions about the existence of an ancient agglomeration at Inter Amnes, between two rivers.

The Treaty of Entrammes, signed in 863 between Charles le Chauve and Salomon de Bretagne, could have been negotiated there, although this hypothesis remains to be confirmed. Disturbations related to an ancient sandstone limit the knowledge of the archaeological environment, but preserved remains offer an exceptional testimony of Roman thermal architecture in northern Gaul.

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