Archaeologists discover a “French Pompeii” near Lyon

The findings in southeastern France are “the most exceptional excavation of a Roman site in 40 or 50 years.”

Vienne, on the River Rhone, close to the French city of Lyon, is already well known for being home to a Roman theatre and temple. In fact, the city was a flourishing Roman colony by the year 47 BC. But now, a group of archaeologists just unearthed a full ancient Roman neighborhood, including vast public spaces and luxury homes. As the site was abandoned after being affected by a fire, the leader of the excavation team, Benjamin Clément, calls it “a little Pompeii.”

The ruins were found, according to the BBC, “during preliminary work to build new housing in the suburb of Sainte-Colombe.” At first, the discoveries were confined to the right bank of the river, but now some new findings have been also made on the other bank.

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