MONTFERRAND
(“Elesiodunum” or “Elusio”) Canton of Castelnaudary, Aude, France.
Small bath
complex of late date, necropolis, and Early Christian
basilica at St-Pierre-d'Alzonne (at the foot of the eminence on which Montferrand stands) near the Naurouze
ridge, and along the Aquitanian road linking Narbonne
to Toulouse and Bordeaux. The funerary basilica (20 x
10 m) faces E, lopsided in form with three aisles. The
central aisle extends E into an apse with a room on each
side. Excavation has produced some remains of the
facings of polychrome marble, the painted plaster, and
the mosaics with which the interior was decorated. In
the crypt and the area immediately surrounding the
basilica were found 51 sarcophagi of sandstone or marble, local work with little decoration, as well as many burials in amphorae and in open ground. Some of the jars contained the remains of several individuals. The
funerary furnishings are limited to splendid earrings and
jewels of the 4th to the 7th c., a period during which the
Visigoths extended their domination over the entire
region. A few late epitaphs have also been discovered.
It would seem that this site, still only partly explored,
should be identified with the way station of Elesiodunum
or Elusio, which Cicero describes as a toll-point and
the ancient itineraries as an overnight resting-place. The
artifacts discovered are preserved on the site.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Informations,”
Gallia 17 (1959) 456-57
P; 20 (1962) 615-16; M. Labrousse,
Toulouse antique
(1968) 140, 340.
G. BARRUOL
