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Gallic Remains Discovered in Paris: a "Major Breakthrough" in the Capital's History

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The Editor

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This summer, while we were all melting under the scorching Parisian sunshine, some were making major discoveries in the shadowy depths of the capital's underground. Indeed, a fragment of Gallic ramparts found on the Île de la Cité could be one of the most significant finds for understanding the history of Paris.

We all know that the history of the capital, which goes back several centuries, is infinitely rich. Yet, while we learn a little more each year, certain mysteries remain despite the tireless work of historians and archaeologists. Among these, the exact location of the Parisii tribe, mentioned by Julius Caesar in 52 BC. However, a new discovery could finally allow us to learn a bit more.


A major clue

This announcement from the Ministry of Culture on Wednesday, September 23rd could well shake up a number of certainties. Indeed, according to reports, a Gallic rampart roughly twenty meters long, made of wood and stone, was discovered this summer on href="https://www.lebonbon.fr/paris/news/ile-cite-transformee-paris/">Île de la Cité, beneath the Hôtel-Dieu. And according to initial analyses, it could be the wall that once surrounded Lutetia, the settlement of the Gallic Parisii tribe. « An island connected by bridges and located in a loop of the Seine », as described by Julius Caesar during his conquest of Gaul, which experts had previously placed rather on the outskirts of Nanterre, in the Hauts-de-Seine.


A Major Breakthrough

If the origin is verified, this relic would therefore allow for the first time to establish a direct link between ancient Lutetia, this Gallic Lutetia, and the city of Paris as we know it today. A hypothesis that seems justified for now, since traces of fire are visible on the ruins, which align with Caesar's account of how the Parisii themselves set fire to their infrastructure before war with the Romans. The first carbon-14 dating places this rampart between 200 and 10 BCE. Advanced research will be conducted in the coming weeks to clarify all this, and if the condition of the stones and the Hôtel-Dieu supports allow, part of the wall should be ture/musee-de-paris/">coming soon to a Parisian museum !