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Roman Finds at the Musée Granet

Aix must be a paradise for archaeologists: building work in town often yields ancient foundations and sewers, but sometimes sumptuous Roman mosaic dining room floors, everyday pottery and glass from the table, and even jewellery, oil lamps and statues. They dated from around 2000 years ago when Aix was the first Roman town in the first Roman province, hence Provence’s name.

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Musée Granet
Place Saint-Jean de Malte
13100 Aix-en-Provence
Closed on Mondays

Roman Aix-en-Provence

Aix-en-Provence is known as the City of Water. Settled in 122 BC by the Romans who found natural springs, they called the city Aquae Sextiae after one of their important consuls Sextius Calvinus. The “Waters of Sextius” provided the population with water (both hot and cold) for daily life, animal husbandry and thermal baths. On the site of these Roman baths is a commercial spa called Thermes Sextius.

Virtually every time there are ‘travaux‘ in Aix, the archaeologists who precede the bulldozers unearth Roman pottery, statues, funeral urns, drainage systems and stretches of road.

Dans les Rues D’Aquae Sextiae – Aix Antique is a tour created by Frédéric Paul of Le Visible est Invisible. The company offers walking tours in French, English, German, and Italian helping you understand the first Roman city in Provence. The Roman city is hard to imagine as most traces have been removed, buried or reused, but Frédéric and his team bring history into view.

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Lynne Alderson

Aixcentric was set up by Lynne Alderson three years ago as a channel to send out info on events taking place around Aix as well as news, relevant books, the latest films, new shops and of course where to eat locally. Why?

According, to Lynne:

"It came about out of frustration with the lack of communication in the town. Posters would suddenly go up about an event that week. No prewarning. I had difficulty too in finding information from many of the tourist offices. Things are slowly getting better and there is sometimes information in English. Hopefully by keeping an eagle eye on the local press and talking with contacts in town, I can publicize fun things that people would otherwise miss. It's a ragbag of info that I come across on my travels. I've published nearly 600 posts now and have lots of followers so hopefully, it is fulfilling its role of helping people, residents and visitors alike, get the most of their time in Aix."

For what is going on in Aix-en-Provence, Lynne has you covered at Aixcentric

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