musée Vesunna

The Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum is an archaeological museum in Périgueux, the capital of the Dordogne department in southwestern France. Opened on 12 July 2003, it was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel to protect and display the remains of a wealthy Gallo-Roman town house, or domus, discovered in 1959. The museum's core mission is to preserve this classified historical monument while making it fully visible to visitors, using innovative architecture that shields the ruins from weather while offering panoramic views of the ancient urban landscape.

The museum's origins trace back to the accidental discovery in 1959 of painted Gallo-Roman walls during surveys for a housing project near the Tower of Vesunna. Systematic excavations followed in four major campaigns: from 1960 to 1968 under Claude Barrière and Max Sarradet, who established the domus plan and its two-phase occupation; from 1973 to 1977 under Anne and Jean-Luc Tobie and Marc Gauthier, revealing a peristyle colonnade and reception room; from 1992 to 1995 under Claudine Girardy Caillat, preparing for museum construction; and from 1999 to 2000 under Luc Wozny, exposing the northern street and domus entrance. The remains were classified as a historical monument on 25 October 1963. The Périgueux municipal council, led by deputy mayor Xavier Darcos, decided to build the museum in 1992. An architectural competition in 1993 selected Jean Nouvel's design. The museum opened on 12 July 2003, inaugurated by Xavier Darcos. It celebrated its tenth anniversary in July 2013 with free public events. In 2013 it received the Tourisme et handicap label for five years, and in 2020 it was designated Architecture contemporaine remarquable.

The permanent exhibition presents archaeological finds from the territory of the Petrocorii, a Gaulish people whose domain corresponded roughly to the modern Dordogne department. The collection is organized around two principal themes: public life in the ancient city and daily life in the domus. Displays include architectural decorations and inscriptions from public buildings, such as the forum mosaic, along with models of the temple, Roman amphitheatre, and aqueduct. The museum also addresses funerary practices through stela reemployed in the fourth-century ramparts. Objects are arranged thematically to illustrate aspects of Gallo-Roman existence including water management, private religion, heating, food, games, and body care.

Among the museum's signature pieces are the painted plaster walls preserved to a height of one metre, discovered at the initial findspot, and a marine fauna fresco on a dark red background dating from the mid-second century, conserved in the central garden area. The exhibition features a wooden pump recovered from an eastern well during the 1973-1977 excavations. A prominent model of Vesunna in the second century provides urban context for the site. The museum also displays limestone blocks from the fourth-century rampart, hung along the western thick wall, and religious statuary. A model reconstructs the appearance of the domus at the end of the second century.

Jean Nouvel's architectural concept centres on two principles: protect and reveal. The structure is dominated by an umbrella roof supported by fourteen nine-metre pillars resting on micropiles, minimizing ground impact on the sensitive archaeological layer. To the west, a 90-metre concrete wall acts as a buttress. The design deliberately conceals modern surroundings: a thick wall to the west and a vegetal screen to the south focus visitor attention on the ancient remains. Visitors enter through a landscaped patio around a centuries-old evergreen oak. The route begins on the first floor with the city model, continues through two mezzanines highlighting the domus, then descends via raised wooden walkways on metal frames to the archaeological level. Suspended glass modules allow views of the fourth-century rampart remains and the Tower of Vesunna. The overhanging roof also shelters the adjacent Taillefer house, possibly the residence of Périgueux's most renowned archaeologist. From the garden of Vésone, the building is barely visible among trees; its glass walls function as an open window onto the past.

The museum is located in Périgueux, Dordogne, France, within the garden of Vésone near the Tower of Vesunna. It is owned and operated by the municipality of Périgueux. The site is accessible to visitors with disabilities, having received the Tourisme et handicap label in 2013. Its official website is http://www.perigueux-vesunna.fr/a-city-under-the-city/.