Via Domitia

Right in the middle of the square, just in front of the Archbishop’s Palace, you’ll find a remarkable relic from the Gallo-Roman era. You’re standing before a section of the Via Domitia, a Roman road that dates all the way back to 118 BC. It was built to link Italy with the Iberian Peninsula, mainly to allow troops and goods to move more easily across the empire. Starting in Italy, the road crossed the Alps at the Montgenèvre Pass, followed the Durance Valley, wound through the Luberon region, and ran along the Gulf of Lion. Along the way, it passed through several major Roman cities—Beaucaire, Nîmes, Béziers, and of course, Narbonne, which was the very first Roman city founded in Gaul. That makes the Via Domitia the oldest Roman road ever built in Gaul—and you’re looking at a small, precious piece of it right here! Discovered in 1997, this section has been carefully preserved to give us a real sense of the road that once played a key role in boosting the local economy, connecting cities and allowing trade to flourish. Feel free to step down and walk on these stones—they’re over 2,000 years old! It’s like stepping straight into history. Another thing to keep in mind here : the square you’re standing in was once Narbonne’s Roman forum. Back in Roman times, the forum was the city’s central square—a wide open space where people gathered to talk, trade, and celebrate. This was where laws were debated, justice was handed down, and religious rituals were performed in the grand temples that once surrounded the square. The forum was the beating heart of Roman civic life—a symbol of power, and the centre of social, economic, and spiritual life in the city.