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Origin and history

The Gallo-Roman villa of Barat-de-Vin is an archaeological site dating from the third and fourth centuries, located in Sorde-l'Abbaye in the Landes (New Aquitaine). Ranked as an ancient villa or possible road relay, it is located near the ancient Roman road linking Bordeaux (Burdigala) to Astorga (Spain), designated as Iter XXXIV in the Itinerary of Antonin. The site, isolated more than 1 km from the present village, is bordered to the south by the Cautere stream and to the east by the ancient way. A second Gallo-Roman villa, called the "Abbés", exists under the Benedictine abbey of the village.

The remains, discovered in the nineteenth century and rediscovered in the 1950s, were surveyed (1957-1959) and then systematically searched by Jean Lauffray between 1964 and 1966. The site, originally privately owned, was transferred to the State in 1970 before being acquired by the Landes Department in the 2000s. Ranked in 1973 and listed at the Historic Monuments in 1997, it now retains 75% of its archaeological potential, although not accessible to the public and in degradation since the excavations of the 1960s.

The site consists of two Gallo-Roman buildings in a mixed apparatus (moellons and pebbles). The south building, which is completely clear, has an open gallery (5 m walls, curved doors) linking a balneum (thermal) to a courtyard garden and a terrace overlooking the creek. The thermal baths, dated from the third century and redesigned in the fourth century, include seven rooms (frigidarium, cold pool) decorated with mosaics of the School of Aquitaine, with geometric and vegetal motifs. The frigidarium pavement, restored in 1967, is partially preserved in the Abbey of Arthous (Hastingues) and in Pau.

Although no medieval remains were identified, the site appears to have been reoccupied after antiquity. The ancient church of Saint Martin of Misson, given in the 12th century to the Abbey of Saint John of Sorde, is mentioned in 1739 near the farm of Barat-de-Vin, before appearing in ruins on the map of Cassini. The hypothesis of a road relay (rather than an aristocratic villa) is supported by its position on the Bordeaux-Astorga route and the presence of imposing thermal baths, but remains debated for lack of additional evidence.

Today, the site is the subject of a project of excavations launched by the Community of Communes Pays d'Orthe and Arrogans. Its archaeological interest persists, especially for the preserved elevations of the baths and facade building, as well as for the mosaics of the fourth century. The gradual deterioration of the remains since the 1960s underscores the urgency of a new study campaign.

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