#narbonne

[dankomaksimovic]

ph. Danko Maksimovic - Narbonne, France (2024)

Film: Kodak Gold 200

[retrogeographie]

Narbonne-Plage.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Grand Hôtel de la Dorade in Narbonne, Languedoc region of southern France

French vintage postcard

[transperceneige]

Narbonne's beach in the morning / in the evening

[philoursmars]

Il y a une dizaine de jours, je suis parti retrouver Christine à Narbonne.

Ici, le Palais des Archevêques et les environs, de nuit. La dernière, c'est le Canal de la Robine, un ancien cours de l'Aude.

[de-enige-echte-richard]

[rabbitcruiser]

Fitou, France (No. 2)

Fitou is a rural commune. It is one of the municipalities with low or very low density, according to the INSEE municipal density grid. The municipality is also out of the city's attractions.

The municipality, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, is also a coastal municipality within the meaning of the law of 3 January 1986, known as the coastal law. Specific urban planning provisions therefore apply in order to preserve natural areas, sites, landscapes and the ecological balance of the coastline, such as the principle of non-constructability, outside built-up areas, on the coastal strip of 100 metres, or more if the local urban plan provides for it.

Source: Wikipedia

[photo-musik]

[trungles]

Narbonne was great! I met some really lovely people, and got to look at an old church, my favorite thing to do in Europe.

[a8ra]

Cathédrale Saint-Just-et-Saint-Pasteur de Narbonne, Narbonne, France

[tourdesouthoffrance]

I took my final walk through the old town in Nîmes and took the train to Narbonne. When I arrived, I strolled along the canal into the heart of the city. Narbonne looks like Béziers but it’s a lot busier. This is to be expected as it’s a larger city.

I explored the cathedral and parts of the castle. I didn’t fancy paying anymore to enter museums and to be honest I’m getting a bit fed up of castles. This is a really ignorant thing to say, but I have seen a lot in the past 2 weeks. I strolled around the city and spent some time by the canal before it became too hot and I decided to walk back to the station. I did well, today it has been 34 degrees Celsius and I explored the city on foot.

The journey back to Béziers took 15 minutes and cost €6.50. As you approach the city by train, you get a great view of the cathedral up on the hill.

Béziers is beautiful, but it still feels rough to me. I considered heading back to Montpellier for the evening, but I can’t justify spending that much money on trains and so I did arguably the best thing that there is to do in Béziers, grab a beer and enjoy the sunset from outside the cathedral. The sunset wasn’t as spectacular today. It was nice, but what I experienced on Thursday night was out of this world. It’s my last night in France. It has been an amazing adventure in which I have seen and learnt so much. I want to come back soon and explore other parts of this great country. Travelling down the west coast from Bordeaux to Biarritz is definitely appealing to me at the moment. I also want to come back and visit Montpellier again. In the end, I really began to love its artsy bohemian feel. Although when I visit again, I will book my own private accommodation!

Thankfully my flight isn’t until tomorrow afternoon, which gives me the morning to explore Béziers some more. That is, if I get up…

[phoenix-joy]

Excerpts:

Archaeologists in Narbonne, France, have unearthed a Roman necropolis containing nearly 1,500 burials—as well as glassware, pottery and other artifacts—that provide an intimate look into an ancient society’s funerary practices.

Narbonne was the Roman Empire’s first colony in Gaul, the region that includes present-day France. Located on the country’s southeastern coast, the city grew into a significant port on the Mediterranean Sea.

Near the end of the first century C.E.—nearly 2,000 years ago—Narbonne’s residents began a graveyard just outside town, according to a translated statement from France’s National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), which ran the excavation. The ancient people of Narbonne used this cemetery for over 100 years, expanding it to nearly 54,000 square feet. [...] Along with practical items such as strigils—tools used to scrape dirt, sweat and oil from the skin—and lamps, the graves contained pendants, jewelry, animal teeth and coins. Researchers also found a number of phallic amulets, which were common ornaments in ancient Rome.

“Phallic emblems are found on a wide range of Roman objects, from amulets to frescoes to mosaics to lamps,” per New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. “They were symbols intended to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits. As the ancient author Pliny attests, even babies and soldiers wore such charms to invite divine protection.”

Ancient Romans didn’t just leave gifts with their deceased loved ones during visits to the cemetery. They also participated in an annual celebration of their ancestors known as Parentalia, which included a graveside feast. The Narbonne cemetery contains several platforms, known as “banquet beds,” built to host such events. Some of the graves even contained remains of food expressly left for the dead during Parentalia meals.

After the excavations ended in 2020, researchers spent four years analyzing the newly discovered artifacts. While many of these items are now set to be exhibited at Narbonne’s Narbo Via Museum, the human remains await further study.

/endquote Selected pictures with credit from article:

A ceramic goblet decorated with skeletons was among the grave goods. Denis Gliksman / INRAP

Numerous phallic amulets were found in the graves. Denis Gliksman / INRAP

[retrogeographie]

Narbonne-Plage.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Dancer and celebrity Cléo de Mérode

French vintage Reutlinger postcard, mailed in 1904 to Narbonne

[transperceneige]

Narbonne 2024 snapshots

[philoursmars]

Il y a une dizaine de jours, je suis parti retrouver Christine à Narbonne.

Le Musée Narbo Via, dédié à la Narbo romaine (cette ville fut la première ville romaine hors d'Italie et un des 3 plus grands ports de l'Empire romain). Ici, alternés :

trapézophore (sorte de tréteau) avec griffons et combat de boucs d'un côté, combat de griffon et de serpent de l'autre- 1er s. ap. J-C.

mosaïque de l'Ivresse de Bacchus - début IIIe s. ap. J-C.

je ne l'ai pas noté mais ce doit être le buste de l'empereur Lucius Verus (si je me trompe, n'hésitez pas à me corriger !) et des projections d'intérieurs pompéiens

sur l dernière, la salle centrale.