Bastion Saint André Archaeology Museum in Antibes
Built by Vauban in 1698 as a defence structure during the conflict between the Kingdom of France and the Earldom of Nice, the Bastion Saint André has two vaulted exposed-stone galleries with a vast paved terrace above. The building has been listed in the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments since 1930. The history of the collection starts in the 16th century with the discovery and publication of many Gallo-Roman inscriptions including the stela of the infant Septentrion.
In the 19th century, private collections were assembled from important families.
In 1928, Romuald Dor de la Souchère created the first History Museum. A Greek scholar and professor in Cannes, he collected archaeological items and casts as well as many documents with notes and translations at the Chateau Grimaldi. The Archaeology Museum was inaugurated in June 1963. In the collection were items from excavations on land and in the sea that traced the history of Antipolis from 7 B.C. to 5 A.D.
Since May 2006, the collection has increased in content and the displays have been meticulously redesigned. New items are on display in the showcases, several themes have been developed and the entire collection enhanced by many explanatory aids such as signs explaining different themes, notes that place the items in a historical perspective and cartels, photographs and maps.
The origins of Antibes. There is the celebrated stone of Terpon, the most ancient inscription in Antibes and two remarkable stone female heads as well as a great deal of local ceramic work from the Etruscan, Massalian and Greek era. Found in digs in old Antibes and recently brought from the museum reserves, the ceramics represent some seven centuries of occupation from the indigenous oppidum to the Greek colony of Marseille (7-1 B.C.)
Examples of items in the Mediterranean world that Antipolis was a part of are displayed in seven showcases where 60 vases and ceramic items produced by the Greeks and different peoples of the Italian peninsula; the indigenous people, Greeks, Etruscans and Romans are to be seen. The Roman town was from 49 B.C. when Antipolis freed itself from the tutelage of Marseille (Strabon, Geography, Infosville, 1, 9). Remarkable items from this Roman presence are displayed in two showcases, some of them since 2006. There are also coins dated 44 B.C. when the town had the privilege of minting the currency, and there are murals representing the birds of love as well as a marble bust of Dionysius (or the faun) that was previously at the Picasso Museum.
A fragment of the altar table in marble, with vine foliage and a dove, conclude the sequence of items of the Roman era. Found in the excavation of the Saint Esprit Chapel near the cathedral and dated 5-4 B.C., they symbolise the emergence of a new town with the modernity residing in Christianity.
Antibes and the sea have been inextricably linked since the beginnings of the town. Antibes Port is only mentioned in the Roman era, in a maritime schedule, but materials found in Saint Roch cove and in many shipwrecks attest to the role of Antibes in the development of commercial trading links from 5 B.C. Items from ships which practised coastal navigation such as that named The Rocks of Aurelia and ocean-going ships resembling the shipwrecked Tradelière were found in their thousands, many of them in an excellent state of conservation. A selection of items was retrieved from among the terracotta vessels, glass vases in many colours in the cargo and from parts of the decks.
There is a reconstruction of the hull of a ship loaded with amphora. At the end of the first gallery, 22 amphoras illustrate the great diversity of their contents such as wine, olive oil and brine, as well as their origins in Marseille, Italy, Spain, Greece and North Africa.
Beliefs and the after-life. This theme is rich in Gallo-Roman epigraphs and decorative items found in Antibes and the surrounding area. The stela of the child dancer Septentrion dated 1557 is the most famous of the inscriptions in Antibes. Many cremation tombs were discovered in digs in Vaugrenier. The ashes were placed in a glass, lead or ceramic urn which was then placed in a stone urn. In the same area, a tiled tomb and a lead sarcophagus give information on burial rites. The tombs lined the roadways with monumental sepulchres in some places, such as the Vallauris mausoleum (the Encourdoules), fragments of which are now in the garden behind the Antibes museum. Remains of offerings suggest belief in an after-life. The presence of coins recalls the obol that must be given to Charon to traverse the Styx, the river of Hell. There is a new small section of divinities on unusual objects, notably a taurobolic inscription that is reminiscent of the cult of the goddess Sybelius, and a small stone altar dedicated to the local god Pipius, generously donated by a couple from Vallauris.
The rural world was a small part of the Gallo-Roman city between Siagne and Loup. Items are principally from digs in Vaugrenier, a secondary agglomeration at the end of 1 A.D. situated along Via Aurelia. From here came a military boundary stone from the beginning of the 4th century previously on display at the Picasso Museum. Along the roadway was a vast temple of which there is a model, as well as workshops and shops which provided evidence of craft work such as weaving and carving. Weapons found in the digs such as javelins, arrowheads, catapults and lances perhaps indicate a battle mentioned by the writer Tacitus which would have ended the occupation of the site in the second half of the first century A.D.
Early life in the town. The last theme has a display of 150 items that illustrate the daily life of residents of Antibes 2,000 years ago. Many of the items are from digs in rue Clemenceau, carried out in the old town between 1992 and 1994.
A mosaic of hexagonal pieces and a wonderful marble fountain are the outstanding items from this excavation. They are accompanied by evidence of the residence of an important person at the end of 2 A.D. Reconstruction of roof tiles clearly illustrates the style of private architecture. The house also has a water supply through lead pipes. Many small items illustrate everyday life such as glass vases, terracotta and bronze oil lamps, toiletry items and games as well as a rare group of caskets made of bone among which feature the head of a man with a laurel crown (Apollo?). |