Mithréum de Mandelieu

TNMM 598

This excavation was carried out in 1978 with the aim of recovering any archaeological remains that might have existed on the site of the church of Notre-Dame d'Avignonet, mentioned in a charter of the Abbey of Lérins at the beginning of the 11th century.

For the medieval period, work carried out in 1980 revealed a number of new coffered tombs that complete the topography of the necropolis, which was linked to the priory in its earliest period. They were located to the north of the chapel and to the east of the chevet, under the hill on which it stood.

As far as the ancient period is concerned, the year's work consisted firstly of completing the excavation of the baths, which were in use at the end of the second or beginning of the third century. The warm room, the hot room and the praefurnium now complete the facilities already known, i.e. the entrance hall, a cloakroom with benches and a cold bath. This whole complex of rooms was built at the foot of the hill, already on the plain, on a level that has always been claimed to be poorly drained and unsuitable for habitation. It must have been in use long enough to have been significantly modified at least once.

This rescue has taken on a new dimension as it has been established that this part of the villa was built against a building now identified as the Mithraeum. P.A. Février was the first to point out the likelihood of this function. The place of worship was, as usual, small: it was a room measuring 8 m x 5 m, divided longitudinally into three compartments by two parallel walls. The earthen floor in the central area is the lowest. This is the central aisle of the sanctuary, which led to three altars at its western end. One of the altars was still standing, detached in front of the back wall, in the central part of the aisle. To its left, another altar was sealed against the wall. To its right, a third altar had fallen over. In their original position, these three altars must have stood on either side of a slab also sealed to the wall. The wall was recessed beneath them. This is usually where the image of the god was placed. There was also a masonry niche behind the altars.

On either side of the central aisle were the benches on which the faithful sat. In their final state, they were also covered with an earthen floor. Traces of supports were still visible on the side walls, suggesting that the original space was vaulted.

A great deal of material was found. This seems to indicate that this was a place of worship until its final destruction. A monetary hoard of around 300 coins was scattered around the room, with a very noticeable preponderance around the altars. Some of these coins were found in the niche, together with a knife and a short sword. Lamps, another knife placed on the slab surrounded by the altars, a terracotta figurine representing a bird (ex-voto?) and two bells were also found, all very similar to what we know of the usual objects of worship. Lamps and coins indicate that the temple was still in use at the end of the 4th century.

The excavation has also shown that the destruction of this place of worship, followed by the recovery of the stones and their burial, was followed by the construction of a retaining wall to the east of the natural mound, which was soon lined and reinforced with semicircular buttresses. The purpose of this wall was to support a deposit of clay that increased the surface area of the natural mound so that new, large buildings could be constructed on the ruins of which the 11th-century chapel was built. This major transformation of the site coincided with the appearance of layers of grey stamped pottery (excavation director: Michel Fixot).

History buffs will know that this place, known as 'Les Vignerons', was home to a priory belonging to the monastery of Saint-Honorat de Lérins. It is recorded in the abbey's archives as far back as the 11th century and is referred to as 'Sainte-Marie' d'Avignonet, or Avinionet, a reference to the ancient Castrum Avinionetum, whose fortified castle stood at the summit of Mont San Peyre.

All that remains of the former 'Notre Dame' church, even though it is shown as it was on the Napoleonic cadastre, are a few architectural traces, notably an arcade built into the walls of a 'Belle Epoque' building. The humble monument consisted of a single nave extended on its eastern side by a semi-circular apse. Its particularly squat proportions were due to the fact that it was built on ancient foundations.

But the following winter, an in-depth survey of the site revealed a much more prosperous and unusual occupation of the site. Soon, beneath the 'modern' and medieval rubble, the remains of a Gallo-Roman villa with a spa complex were revealed. [...] This was an important discovery, but one that is relatively common in the region. It became exceptional, however, when a number of clues suggested that a simple cellar had been converted into a place of mystery worship in late antiquity.

The final excavation campaign was completed in autumn 1981 and confirmed the unusual presence of a mithraeum at Minelle.

The primitive farm was strategically located not far from the Via Aurelia connecting Rome and Fréjus. It faces the sea, at the top of the eastern slope of a small knoll 3 metres above the Argentière alluvial plain (its current height). Its construction dates back to the Augustan period (1st century AD) and follows the overall plan typical of Gallo-Roman 'villas'.

It is a vast building of the 'rustic' type, forming a rectangle measuring approximately 30 by 10 metres, surrounded by an enclosure delimiting the plot.

[...] At the same time, in the late 2nd and 3rd centuries, a cult building (5 and 6) was erected within the walls of the original cellar. The semi-buried nature of this building, set into the slope and almost overlooked by the terrace in front of the house, was perfectly suited to its transformation into a mithraeum, a place of mystery worship originally practised in a cave or spelaeum.

The layout is classic: a vestibule-kitchen or pronaos precedes the sanctuary or naos.

A number of objects were discovered on site during excavations: a jug, a crater, bowls, a bowl bearing votive signs that have yet to be deciphered, oil lamps, a bronze statuette of the god Mercury, three bells, raven and young bovid bones, a sword and two knives, etc. A monetary deposit of 360 coins scattered around the site dates the abandonment of the site to around 390, with no apparent signs of violence.

The mithraeum at Minelle is a good example of how this mysterious religion spread to the countryside. The large number of monetary offerings found at the site testify to the deep-rootedness of the cult and the deep devotion that the deity Mithra inspired in the inhabitants of our region. However, the Christian religion gradually took over. Saint Honorat founded his monastery on the island of Lérins around 410 AD.

The entire site was deserted in the 5th century, probably the victim of a five-century long recession.

It was on the ruins of the abandoned villa that the modest medieval priory of Notre Dame d'Avinionet was built around the year 1000 and, later, the Belle Epoque villa des Vignerons, which was also abandoned and destined for destruction when the 'Jardins de Minelle' were created in the late 1970s.

Following an archaeological dig, it was decided to cover up the remains and consign the traces of the site's mysterious and picturesque history to a discreet eternity.