Collections

Making Your Way through the Museum

Reviving a Lost World

The collections make up a complete panorama of everyday life during the first centuries of our era. The chosen strategy is an ethnological approach, with numerous reconstructions in the form of models.

The visit allows guests to discover the site and its history and the scope of Romanization, notably through the mosaic of The Conquering Athletes, the paintings of the wrestlers' baths and the model of Vienne covering the 2nd century to the present day.

The artisan trades, commerce, and economic importance of the city, a source of wealth for its inhabitants, are evoked in the part of the museum dominating the Rhône – a reminder of the river's essential role as means of communication and transport. Further along, you will discover the diversity of decorations and the originality of the style of the mosaicists of Vienne.
Dominating the archaeological site is the presentation of a Roman house, sector by sector, which reconstructs the style and manners of everyday life.



WHERE DO THE COLLECTIONS COME FROM?

Classified site of Saint-Romain-en-Gal : The results of on-site discoveries, as well as during scheduled excavations that have been conducted regularly since 1981.

The city of Vienne (Isère Department) : allows the exhibition of prestigious pieces belonging to the museums of Vienne. Many of these objects, acquired in the 19th century, come from accidental discoveries on the two banks of the Rhône, such as the mosaic of the Punishment of Lycurgus.

Exploratory digs : these archaeological operations, ordered by regional governments, are conducted before construction projects that damage archaeological remains when no other solution for protection is possible. They intensified during the 1980s, and the results have considerably enhanced our knowledge, particularly concerning the topography of the Roman city. .

Virtual visit

> The Signs of Romanization

> Four Centuries of History

> Commerce, a Source of Wealth

> The Thousand and One Vocations of the City

> Colorful Houses

> Areas of the House