Périgueux & Vésone Roman Museum

Périgueux, the ancient capital of the Dordogne in Nouvelle Aquitaine, contains two distinct historical layers that make it one of the most rewarding small cities in southwestern France. At its core is the Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum (Musée Gallo-Romain Vesunna), a remarkable structure designed by star architect Jean Nouvel and opened in 2003. Nouvel's building—a vast glass and steel canopy supported on slender columns—was designed to shelter and display the remains of a luxurious 2nd-century Gallo-Roman domus (town house) entirely in situ, meaning visitors walk through the actual excavated rooms of the ancient villa. Preserved floor mosaics, hypocaust underfloor heating systems, painted wall frescoes in vivid reds and ochres, and well-heads remain exactly where archaeologists found them. A glass floor section allows views into the archaeological layers below. The collection also includes everyday Roman artifacts, coins, glass vessels, and bronze objects, with clear explanatory panels in French and English. Adjacent to the museum, a circular Roman tower—the Tour de Vésone—stands as one of the best-preserved Gallo-Roman monuments in France, the remnant of a 2nd-century religious sanctuary nearly 17 meters in diameter. Périgueux's medieval quarter, centered on the bulbous Byzantine-Romanesque domes of the Cathedral of Saint-Front (a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route), is a 10-minute walk from the museum. The Saturday morning market beneath the cathedral's shadow is one of the finest in the Périgord, with local truffles, foie gras, walnuts, and Périgord strawberries.