L'ECLUSE
Canton of Céret, Pyrénées-Orientales,
France.
Imposing fortifications of the Late
Empire, now covered with vegetation. They stand on
either side of the L'Ecluse defile, which is the only route
leading to the Perthus pass—the lowest of the E Pyrenees—and the route of the great Roman road that joined
Gaul with Spain. The structures, large, strong, and preserved to a relatively great height, consist of curtainwalls, towers, barracks, and a cistern. They extend on
the E side of the valley (right bank of the Rom) to the
hamlet of L'Ecluse-Haute, and on the left bank to the
hill called Château des Maures. The road, which is cut
into the rock, follows the bottom of the defile, skirting
the stream. At the fortified point it cuts between two
walls which are designed to carry portcullises to block
it. Recent soundings in some of these structures have
uncovered ceramics characteristic of the Late Empire.
This fortified ensemble (clausurae), which was placed
at the easiest place to watch and defend (not at the
Perthus pass itself but at the last mountainous passage
before the plain of Roussillon), was intended to control
the passage of travelers, impose tariffs on merchants,
and even check the advance of invaders. Efforts were
made here to prevent passage during the troubled times
of the Late Empire and the Early Middle Ages.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
E. Espérandieu,
Répertoire archéologique des Pyrénées-Orientales (1936) 34; “Informations,”
Gallia 22 (1964) 473; 24 (1966) 449
I; 27 (1969)
381.
G. BARRUOL
