The House with the Grand Peristyle, erroneously designated the Villa with the Grand Peristyle, is also known as the domus of Lower Vieux. It is a Gallo-Roman domus located within the archaeological site of , the ancient Aregenua, approximately 15 kilometers south of Caen.

The city was established during the 1st century and reached its apogee during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The city was not and did not become the seat of a bishopric as a result of the invasions that occurred during the 3rd century. The territory of the Viducasses, of which Aregenua was the capital, was absorbed by the city of Bayeux as evidenced by the early 5th century. Consequently, the city ceased to exist as an urban center, even though the site remained continuously occupied. The Lower Vieux house is a distinctive building that reached its apogee in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

As a consequence of the urbanization of the city from the 5th century onwards, the archaeological remains of the ancient city are accessible for research purposes and were the subject of early excavations, which commenced at the end of the 17th century. The site of the house was subjected to a more systematic excavation in the 19th century, with a particularly comprehensive program undertaken in the late 1980s. The comprehensive excavation also delineated the chronology of the insula on which it is situated, from the 1st to the 5th century AD. The extent of the discoveries prompted the establishment of a site museum, the Vieux-la-Romaine Archaeological Museum, which was inaugurated in 2002. The coatings were re-studied in 2010.

The House with the Grand Peristyle is distinctive within the context of northern French architecture due to its unique proportions and the state of conservation of its decorative elements, including a set of sculpted columns. Although not exceptional in size or decoration, the house nevertheless represents an archetypal example of this type of residence, according to Vipard, which was constructed by elites who sought to play a social and political role, beyond that of individual habitation. The house thus testifies to the diffusion of Mediterranean architectural models among the Gallic elites, the process of Romanization, and the role of these buildings in social life.

Location

The commune of is situated approximately 10 kilometers southwest of Caen. It encompasses the site of the ancient city of Aregenua, the urban center of the Gallic people of the Viducasses, which spanned an area of 2,300 km2.

The House with the Grand Peristyle, whose facade is connected to the cardo, is situated on the Guigne hillside in the bath district. This area is characterized by a high density of buildings, a system of galleries along the street frontage, and a network of roads established in the 2nd century.

In the immediate vicinity, the discovery of guard stone provides evidence of the existence of a fountain. A second bath building, excavated in the 18th and 19th centuries, is located approximately 40 meters to the southwest. This structure, measuring approximately 90 meters by 50 meters, is believed to have been divided into two sections, one for men and one for women. It was donated to the city by two prominent Gallo-Romans, Sollemninus and Titus Sennius Sollemnis, at the end of the 2nd century or the beginning of the 3rd century. This is indicated by an honorific inscription engraved on a pedestal known as the marble of Thorigny.

Near the house, to the east, are insulae composed of wood and wattle and daub, as well as a modestly sized domus on its north side and a second one near shops. To the north are baths dated to the mid-2nd century and excavated in the 19th century. In addition, the city forum, which was excavated in the 19th century and again in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, is located in the vicinity.

The facade of the House with the Grand Peristyle is visible to the northwest of the site. Based on the absence of other remains south of the house, the archaeologists hypothesize that this structure marks the limit of the ancient city.

History

History of the city

The city of Aregenua, the seat of the Viducasses tribe, was established in the 1st century and reached its apogee in the 2nd and 3rd centuries under the Severan dynasty.

The city was significantly impacted during the period of instability that affected the Roman Empire in the 3rd century. Still, it lacked the fortifications that other neighboring cities, such as Jublains, Lisieux, Bayeux, and Évreux, had in place. Although the site continued to be inhabited, it lost importance to Bayeux, which became the seat of a bishopric. At the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 4th century, the decline became even more pronounced, resulting in the merger of the city with Bayeux in the early 4th century and the subsequent disappearance of the city from the administrative records before 400 AD. A significant exodus of the population accompanied this.

History of the building

From origins to flourishing

The archaeological excavations have revealed a great deal about the history of the neighborhood. The evidence indicates that the building materials used for the houses in the area improved over time, and that a growing luxury characterizes the evolution of the building.

Early occupations in the area

The initial occupations of the site, dated to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, involved the construction of modest structures of wood, wattle, and daub, and floors crafted from beaten earth. It seems probable that the area of the domus had an artisanal vocation, including workshops of bronzesmiths or glassmakers. The neighborhood was crisscrossed with roads from 125-150 AD, which marks the period during which the use of stone in construction became widespread in Aregenua.

In the mid-2nd century, the insula was home to two buildings: the eastern house (751 m2) and the western house. The latter is notable for the reuse of certain elements in subsequent constructions. The western house was partially demolished.

House with the small peristyle

The houses of the third quarter of the 2nd century were already large buildings. One of them was destroyed around 170–180 AD to allow the expansion of a second building, which archaeologists have named the House with the Small Peristyle due to the presence of a modestly sized peristyle.

In addition to this expansion, alterations were made to the entire building. A new wing was constructed on the south side, rooms were added to the existing structure, and the west wing underwent a significant transformation. The house was constructed according to a classical Greco-Italian rectangular plan, measuring approximately 50 meters by 30 meters. The building's area was expanded through the addition of a garden, and it was simultaneously adorned with luxurious decorative elements. The courtyard measured 5.30 m by 7.90 m and featured a brick basin enclosed by a portico 2.70 m wide, with 10 columns displaying rare decorative elements. The house also included a tablinum, which was an architectural innovation for the period, although a similar arrangement is documented in the House of the Dolphin in Vasio.

House with the Grand Peristyle Towards the end of the 2nd or the beginning of the 3rd century, substantial alterations were made to the structure. A viridarium was constructed within the courtyard, and the peristyle underwent a significant expansion, which lends credence to the designation of the house as the House with the Grand Peristyle. The house was continuously occupied until the last quarter of the 3rd century.

Decline and destruction

House with the checkerboard mosaic The building sustained fire damage in the latter half of the third century but was subsequently repaired and dubbed the House with the Checkerboard Mosaic, a moniker derived from the advent of this novel decorative element. The quality of life for the inhabitants of the house appears to have declined, with artisans, metallurgists, and butchers taking up residence. The architectural plan remained unchanged, and the modifications indicate a continued occupation. The hypocaust system was no longer in use, and a mosaic was restored with tile mortar, suggesting that the occupants lacked the expertise to repair the work with local artisans. The water supply system for the basins was no longer operational, and a water evacuation system was constructed to compensate for a failing pipe.

Progressive destruction

In the initial third of the fourth century, a new fire devastated the already nearly deserted edifice, prompting the commencement of material recoveries. The cardo pierced the ruins around 330–340 AD, causing "considerable destruction," particularly in the west wing, as this opening destroyed three-quarters of the rooms that composed it. The site's continued occupation is indicated by the discovery of a hoard of 38 antoniniani in a pit containing butcher waste. Additionally, a coin of Gratian, struck between 368 and 375, was found elsewhere on the site. A similarly worn coin of Flavius Arcadius, also dated to this period, was also unearthed.

The house subsequently served as a resource for the recovery of building materials, initially on a sporadic basis and then on a larger scale between 475 and 550. This is evidenced by the discovery of a Frankish axe measuring 13.50 cm in length on the site. The material recoverers focused their efforts on cutting the columns and transporting numerous fragments to lime kilns, where they proceeded with a comprehensive recovery of the collected elements. This process left behind only non-reusable items, including wattle, coatings, and small stones. While this destroyed some fragments, it also preserved others, allowing for the partial reconstitution of the decorative elements in their original context. Consequently, the house physically disappeared from the landscape at this time.

Subsequently, in the eighteenth century, topsoil was introduced to facilitate agricultural production, which resulted in the area assuming a distinctly rural character.

Rediscovery

Excavations

Excavations commenced in Vieux as early as 1697, a full half-century before those at Pompeii and over a century after the discovery of the marble of Thorigny.

In 1812, the southern area of the house was explored by the owner, who discovered a mosaic. The Society of Antiquaries of Normandy conducted a new excavation in 1826, but only a fragment of the mosaic was found. No further excavations were conducted in Vieux in the 19th century that specifically concerned the building.

In 1988, the Departmental Council of Calvados initiated an archaeological excavation program in the commune, with a primary focus on the investigation of habitation sites. Subsequently, the house was excavated by Pascal Vipard between 1988 and 1991. The absence of any construction above the ancient site enabled him to conduct his work effectively, resulting in these excavations becoming the most significant carried out in Vieux since 1864. The House with the Grand Peristyle was also the subject of Pascal Vipard's doctoral thesis, which was successfully defended at Paris IV in 1996 under the supervision of François Hinard. The title of the thesis was Une domus du quartier des thermes d'Aregenua (Vieux, Calvados). Contribution à l'histoire de l'habitat urbain en Gaule romaine (A domus in the Baths District of Aregenua [Vieux, Calvados]. Contribution to the history of urban habitation in Roman Gaul).