History: during Antiquity, Saintes and Barzan were “two independent ports”

Located in the Gironde estuary, the Gallo-Roman site of Fâ was a major port city in Aquitaine Gaul

Until recently, the site of Fâ, in Barzan (possibly Novioregum), in the Gironde estuary, was considered by archaeologists to be the port or outer port of Mediolanum Santonum (Saintes) during the early days of the Roman Empire. Recent research has dismissed this hypothesis. Located half a day's walk apart, the two sites were indeed connected by one of the many Roman roads, but no discovery has provided "archaeological proof" of the materiality of an "outer port."

"For me, Saintes, like Barzan, are two ports, two independent ports," analyzes Karine Robin, head of the archaeology department at the Charente-Maritime Department. She assumes that this "shortcut" was born from a hasty transposition "of what we know between Rome and Ostia, the identified port of Rome. We see that, in our territories, it's a little more complex."

The archaeologist explains: "Thanks to the Charente, Saintes also has a port activity. The Charente is a major transport route for goods. The town is a little further inland, protected, while Barzan is a port on the Gironde that allows for the collection of goods arriving from the Pyrenees. You go up the Gironde, the Garonne, and you arrive in Toulouse. From Toulouse, you cross overland and arrive in Narbonne, and there, you capture everything produced in the Mediterranean world. If this town has grown to such an extent, it is most certainly because the city of Saintes, capital of Aquitaine Gaul, authorized it to do so," emphasizes Karine Robin.

Barzan and Saintes, two towns that reveal their differences, but also their monumental character. Excavations conducted since 1994 in the ancient port city of Barzan confirm that the site played a major economic role. They also revealed human occupation dating back to seven centuries BC.