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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Roman villa of the Fontainotte is a Gallo-Roman aristocratic residence located in Grand, in the Vosges department (Great East). Occupying nearly one hectare, it consists of a 750 m2 housing body surrounded by gardens, service courts and a wall of enclosures. Its remains, discovered during preventive excavations in 2009-2011, testify to a high standard of living, with facilities such as an equipped kitchen, coolers, a hypocauste and latrines. The villa, inhabited from the last quarter of the first century to the middle of the third century, probably belonged to a notable local.

The property is located on the southwest edge of the ancient enclosure of Grand, near the current Mosaic Street. Its U-shaped plan, open to the south, includes seven wired rooms, a north gallery overlooking a garden, and side wings dedicated to services. A spring collection chamber from the 18th-18th century was later integrated into the northeast corner of the site. The excavations also revealed archaeological elements (furniture, well, barn) confirming its luxury residence status.

Identified in 2009-2010, the villa was the subject of a search campaign in 2011 before being listed as a historical monument by order of 18 July 2013. His study has provided a better understanding of the spatial organization of ancient dwellings in this region, as evidenced by subsequent scientific publications (e.g. Gallia, 2013; Archeological Review of the East, 2022).

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