Sign in with Facebook
Arch of Germanicus.
Saintes was an important place for the romans and they have left plenty of evidence of their stay here, the amphitheatre, the thermal bath and the Arch of Germanicus. The arch was built in 18-19ad at the entrance to a bridge, it served as a gate for the town on the great roman road from Lyon and bears an inscription to the emperor Tiberius and his nephews Germanicus and Drusus. The tablature carries the geneology of the donor, a local Saintes senator called Caius Julius Rufus.
The arch was saved in 1843 by Prosper Merimee when the bridge was demolished and the arch had to be dismantled and rebuilt on the east bank.
