Civaux - Necropolis

Civaux, a village with a population of about 1000, has a history rooting very deep. Humans populated the area already, when stepp bisons and mammoths were hunted. Many "pre-historic" artefacts have been excavated in and around Civaux, proving that this place was inhabited over tens of thousands of years.

A settlement stood on the site of the village in Gallo-Roman times, and there are still traces of Roman temples. Excavations have revealed the sites of a theater (capacity 3000), a fortified camp, and the foundations of many villas.

This has been a place of very early christianisation. A funeral stele has been found dating to around 400, a pagan temple and a very early baptisterium were excavated next to the church. The polygonal apse was probably built as well around 400, what actually means that the church, dedicated to Saint Gervais and Saint Protais is one of the oldest in France.

At that time a kind of pilgrimage must have developed. The relics of Saint Gervais and Saint Protais had been miraculously discovered by Saint Ambrose in Milan in 386, so the saints got very popular in Merovingian times, but that does not explain the enigma of Civaux. The village stands in the center of a huge merovingian necropolis.

As many sarcophagi were sold as water basins or troughs in later time, the exact number of graves is unknown. Serious estimations are between 10.000 and 20.000 graves.

The first excavations here were done during the 18th century. At that time the necropolis covered still about 20.000m². Legends connect it to the Battle of Vouillé, fought in 507 between Franks, commanded by Clovis, and the Visigoths, commanded by Alaric II, but there is no proof.

Civaux must have been a Christian center in the early times. There is a theory claiming that "pagans" tried to get baptized in the very last moments of their lifes, to enter paradies without a sin. So they reached this place either very old or very sick.. But the enigma of Civaux is not solved at all.

From the 18th century on intact sarcophagi were transported to the graveyard of the village, that of course was a part of the necropolis. Now there are about 350 sarcophagi here. As there were many surplus lids, the fence around the graveyard was created by vertical stone slabs.

Neighbouring to the necropolis is the "Civaux Nuclear Power Plant", one of 19 Nuclear Power Plants in France. The cooling towers here are 180 metres in height, making them the tallest cooling towers in France.