VILLARDS D'HÉRIA
Jura, France.
A large
group of ruins was explored at the end of the 17th c. in
the incorrect belief that it was the ancient town of Aventicum.
At the highest point on the site, near lake Antre, a
sanctuary has been identified by dedicatory inscriptions
to Mars and to Bellona; it contained a rectangular temple, a round or oval one, and other buildings.
Lower down the Héria brook, formed in part by the
lake's water via an underground passage, is straddled by
the Pont des Arches, built of large blocks. It consists of
two parallel galleries covered with flat slabs and it supported a building that was presumably a temple. There
are large structures on both sides of the stream. On the
right bank the 17th c. excavations uncovered baths and
other remains, perhaps those of a theater.
Excavations on the left bank since 1961 have unearthed a large ensemble. East of the bridge is a square paved with slabs, with a well-built catchment basin in the middle, and a stairway like that of the so-called
temple. Farther S, a gallery with two perpendicular arms
frames another square. The gallery is decorated with
frescos and contained a bronze statue of C. Licinius
Campanus, priest of the Three Gauls, which was dedicated by the Sequani. Finally, there is a bath bordered
to the E by a gallery with exedrae and divided into two
parts, each including a cold pool built of large blocks,
a hypocaust, and various associated structures.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
L. Lerat, “La ‘ville d'Antre.’ Mythes et
réalités,”
Annales Littéaires de l'Université de Besançon 19 (1965); “Informations,”
Gallia 18 (1960) 256-60; 20
(1962) 528-39; 22 (1964) 407-10; 24 (1966) 365-70; 26
(1968) 453-65.
L. LERAT
