Arena Garden A historic garden with a playground and pond in Périgueux

Périgueux is the best-known Roman city in Aquitaine.

Before the Roman conquest, the present-day Dordogne department was occupied by the Celtic people of the Petrocorii or Petrocorii.

When Emperor Augustus created the province of Aquitaine around 16 BC, he divided it into 21 cities, including the City of the Petrocorii (Civitas petrucoriorum) which was endowed with a capital called Vesunna (Vesunna in Latin) named after a native protective deity.

Vesunna occupied 82 hectares in a bend of the right bank of the Isle River. The urban planning and architecture of this new city were intended to express Roman order and encourage the local population to adopt a new lifestyle. By the 1st century AD, it already possessed a forum and an amphitheater with a capacity of 18,000 spectators.

The city appears to have been a vast construction site until at least the middle of the 2nd century, with in particular the construction of the great temple known today as the Tower of Vesunna.

As throughout Gaul, public affairs were managed by notables of Gallic origin, who were quickly Romanized. In Vesunna, the houses of notables (domus) developed all around the civic center from the 1st century onwards. Towards the end of the 3rd century, after a period of decline, the city contracted within a fortified wall. The monuments were dismantled stone by stone to be reused in the construction of this new monumental enclosure. This marked the beginning of a different kind of urban life.

In the 19th century, the site was developed into a public garden. Listed as a historical monument since 1840, it was remodeled in 1972. It now includes a playground and a pond.

PARK HOURS:

• From October 1st to April 1st: from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm
• From April 2nd to September 30th: from 7:30 am to 9 pm