Label : Relais et Châteaux

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Site et Musée archéologique d'Ensérune
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34400 Nissan-lez-Ensérune (Hérault)


Perched upon a rocky knoll at the crossroads between air and sea routes about ten kilometres from Béziers, Enserune was probably one of the most important oppidum in the Mediterranean Midi region. Its vestiges are characteristic of pre-Roman settlement in the south of France. The ceramic sherds found during the excavations carried out since 1915 give us hindsight into the progressive melting between Celtic-Iberian populations and the Mediterranean civilisations. The settlements correspond globally to three periods. The first occupation of the site started in the 6th century B.C.: the simple houses in pisé were scattered; several silos dug in the tufa were used to keep food. The Hellenistic period of the oppidum (500 to 300 B.C.) witnessed a development of commerce and a new prosperity in the place: the houses were build in stone, the urbanisation was better organised and an enclosure was built. With the arrival of the Gauls between 300 and 250, the town expanded and new terraces and tanks appeared; the incineration necropolis from the 4th and 3rd centuries were abandoned. At the end of the 3rd century, the oppidum was destroyed. However, it experienced a new prosperity after the romans founded Narbonne in 118 B.C.. The oppidum seems to have disappeared during the first century of our era. All the archaeological discoveries made on the site were put together in a museum, which displays remarkable collections.

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