Nyon: Welcome to Noviodunum, city of Julius Caesar

If you live in Nyon, there is always the possibility that one day you may find some thousand-year-old vestiges in your cellar!  Indeed, this small city on the banks of Lake Léman was built on « Noviodunum », the urban centre of the Colonia lulia Equestris that was used around 45 BC to accommodate the veterans of Julius Caesar's army. In those days, everything in Noviodunum was new: the colony, settled on lands probably taken from the Helvetians, the inhabitants, who had come here to enjoy a well-deserved retirement, and even the name of the town, which means « new rampart », as opposed, it seems, to the old Roman hill-fort in Geneva, about twenty kilometers away.

If the archeologist are only now beginning to get a clearer understanding of the structure of the city, it is due to the fact that excavations in an urban environment turn out to be a delicate endeavor, and also that the major finds are most often accidental, and recent. So it was, in 1974, with the discovery of the Roman forum basilica, with the amphitheatre, discovered in 1966 during work on a construction site, or even with the aqueduct, which was spotted to the west of the city. If many of these vestiges are still visible, many others were buried again, after they had been discovered and indexed. The localities of discovery are indicated by a lighter color of bitumen or a dark red slab. Keep your eyes open!

Things you must see in Nyon:

The Exhibition « Côté Jardins » (15.06.2007 - 31.05.2008): Romans, it is known, had developed a very sophisticated art of gardening, as much for their subsistence as for their enjoyment: vegetables and aromatic or medicinal herbs, fruit-bearing and flower-bearing trees, all of which composed the sometimes lavishly laid out gardens of the notable families. To again enjoy a bit of these aromas of yesteryear, the Museum has taken this opportunity to enrich the Roman garden, drawing inspiration from what the inhabitants of those days used to like. Don't miss the Julius Caesar Esplanade (just behind the Roman museum, Maupertuis street (locate).

See the open-air amphitheatre discovered in 1996 at the junction of « Rue de la Colombière » and  « Rue de la Porcelaine » (locate) 

Those interested in aqueducts will find, at the heart of the Mangettes Park, to the west of the city, sections of a duct, a dozen kilometers long, that started in Divonne (F), where it collected the spring water, before it crossed the border, made its way into Switzerland and up to Nyon. Where exactly it ended, however, is still unknown.

The columns with a sculpted cornice which one can see when arriving at Nyon from Geneva have not always been located on the «Esplanade des Marronniers ». They were raised in 1958, in celebration of the city's 2000th anniversary. Placed this way, they are not the reflection of one of the monuments of the Colonia lulis Equestris, but they can still be admired!

And finally, if you should not forget to look down for the archeological finds indicated by a lighter color of bitumen or dark red slabs, you will certainly want to look up as well, to see the some of the rehabilitated vestiges in certain parts of the city. The walls of buildings of medieval origin, like the Caesar tower, which houses a relief depicting Attis, the Castle, the Sainte-Marie gate with its original marquee, or even the Roman relief reinstalled on the «Place du Marché », or the high relief of goddess Diana in the Northern corner of the temple, all bear witness to the recycling of materials that followed the downfall of the city right from the end of the 3rd century.

Photo: The amphitheatre, Fibbi-Aeppli

Exposition « Côté Jardins » (15.06.2007 - 31.05.2008) : les Romains, c'est connu, ont développé un art très sophistiqué des jardins tant pour leur subsistance que pour le plaisir: légumes et herbes aromatiques ou médicinales, arbres fruitiers et fleurs qui composaient les jardins parfois somptueusement aménagés des familles de notables. Pour retrouver un peu de ces senteurs d'antan, le Musée a enrichi pour l'occasion le jardin romain en s'inspirant de ce que les habitants d'alors aimaient. Un petit jardin d'Eden situé sur l'Esplanade Jules César, juste derrière le musée romain, rue Maupertuis, localiser .

A voir l'amphithéâtre découvert en 1996 à l'endroit où la rue de la Colombière et la rue de la Porcelaine se rejoignent (localiser).

Les amateurs d'aqueduc trouveront, au cœur du parc des Mangettes à l'ouest de la ville, des tronçons d'un  ouvrage d'une dizaine de kilomètres qui débutait à Divonne (F), où il récoltait les eaux de source avant de franchir la frontière et de poursuivre en Suisse jusqu'à Nyon. L'endroit exact où il aboutit demeure toutefois inconnu...

Les colonnes surmontées d'une corniche sculptée que l'on voit en arrivant à Nyon quand on vient de Genève, n'ont pas toujours été situées sur l'Esplanade des Marronniers. Elles ont été érigées en 1958 à l'occasion de la célébration du bimillénaire de la ville. Ainsi, disposées, elles ne sont pas le reflet de l'un des monuments de la colonia Iulis Equestris mais elles méritent néanmoins  un coup d'œil !

Et pour finir, s'il ne faut pas hésiter à garder le nez par terre pour trouver les endroits des découvertes archéologiques signalés par un bitume clair ou des dalles rouge sombre, il vaut également la peine de le relever pour repérer les récupérations de vestiges visibles dans certains endroits de la ville. Ainsi, les murs de bâtiments d'origine médiévale, comme la Tour César, qui recèle un relief représentant Attis, le château, la porte Sainte-Marie et son chapiteau récupéré ou encore le relief romain réemployé à la place du Marché tout comme un haut relief de la déesse Diane dans l'angle nord du temple, témoignent du travail de recyclage des matériaux qui a suivi le déclin de la ville dès la fin du 3ème siècle.