Source des Roches et sanctuaire de Chamalières

Chamalières

At Chamalières, on the edge of Clermont-Ferrand, a mineral-water spring now gushes out amid apartment buildings. Construction work there uncovered a layer of waterlogged peat, full of wooden figures. These are ex-votos: offerings left by the sick who hoped for healing. About 3,500 are counted, whole or in pieces, and many represent people; the others depict parts of the body. The wood survived because the water protected it from the air. The Département of Puy-de-Dôme dates them from the 1st century BC to the 2nd century AD. In the same place, a lead tablet engraved in Gaulish was found in 1971, one of the important texts for the study of this language. The sanctuary itself is covered by the town, but the objects are displayed in the musée Bargoin. The figure varies between publications: an article of 1972 speaks of more than 5,000 ex-votos.

Éditions de la MSH — Simone Deyts, Les ex-voto gallo-romains de Chamalières ↗

Getting there: The spring is today in a built-up neighbourhood: the deposit was discovered during the construction of apartment buildings, and no visitor facilities were found. OpenStreetMap places the ‘Source des Roches’ on avenue Jean-Jaurès. The ex-votos are in the musée Bargoin in Clermont-Ferrand (rue Ballainvilliers, corner of boulevard Lafayette), which devotes a room to the sanctuary; times and current state of the display not verified.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound