In Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, research is conducted near the old castle, now disappeared, on prescription of the DRAC Île-de-France. The excavations conducted by the archaeologists of Inrap and the Departmental Council of Val-de-Marne will have to confirm whether the remains uncovered correspond to the stables of the harbour office of the castle.
The medieval monastery and the Renaissance castle
The foundation of a monastery in the middle of the 7th century is the origin of the present city. The state of the site in the early Middle Ages is poorly known but it is obviously an important ecclesiastical domain that is very strongly altered by the Hundred Years War. Most of the monastic buildings were demolished in 1751. Some remains remain today. Near the monastic places Philibert Delorme built from 1541 a home for the Cardinal du Bellay, bishop of Paris and adviser to the king. Enlarged by Catherine de Medici, the castle was bought back in 1598 by the prince of Condé. It was destroyed in 1796.
Research near the old castle in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés © Myr Muratet, Inrap
In search of the castle stables
The plot studied by archaeologists corresponds to the harbour office which was in the Renaissance the stewardship of the castle of Saint-Maur. It is a built complex, organized around a large central building that appears in the 18th century in the archives of the French Revolution; it is then used as a stable by the veterinary school of Maisons-Alfort.
Research near the old castle in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés © Myr Muratet, Inrap
A medieval barn
The excavation shows that it is in fact a tithe barn installed by the abbey of Saint-Maur to store the proceeds of the tax in kind on the harvests. We know from the archives that this barn, hitherto undetected, exists in the sixteenth century. Its construction probably dates from the low Middle Ages. The relatively good state of conservation of the remains allows us to hope to understand the internal functioning of the building.
Research near the old castle in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés © Myr Muratet, Inrap
Research near the old castle in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés © Myr Muratet, Inrap
Before the barn was built, the place had been heavily occupied since the early Middle Ages. There are many traces of it in the form of post holes, pits and ditches that suggest the proximity of the first village near the abbey.
Research near the old castle in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés © Myr Muratet, Inrap
- Scientific control Service régional de l'archéologie (Drac Île-de-France) - Inrap and CD 94 archaeological research; - Archaeological Research Manager (RRA): Jean-Louis Bernard (Inrap) - Sector Manager, RRA Assistant: Élise Allaoua (CD 94) |
National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) is a public institution under the supervision of the Ministries of Culture and Research. It is responsible for the detection and study of archaeological heritage prior to the development of the territory and carries out every year some 1800 archaeological diagnostics and more than 200 excavations on behalf of private and public developers, in metropolitan France andsea. Its missions extend to the scientific analysis and interpretation of excavation data and the dissemination of archaeological knowledge. With 2,200 staff in 8 regional and interregional directorates, 42 research centres and a headquarters in Paris, it is Europe’s largest archaeological research operator.
Located in Villejuif, the Department of Archaeology is a department of the Department of Val-de-Marne created in 1978. Composed of about twenty agents, its missions consist of uncovering, preserving and studying the archaeological heritage of its territory, preserving its testimonies and transmitting knowledge. He participates in archaeological research in the broad sense. The Departmental Council thus marks its desire to protect the archaeological heritage of Val-de-Marne.