Ancient Gallic wall found near Notre-Dame could help trace Paris’s origins

• Archaeologists have unearthed the charred remains of a 20-metre-long ancient Gallic wall near Notre-Dame in Paris.
• The discovery could provide the first physical evidence of Lutèce, an ancient Gallic town cited by Julius Caesar upon whose ruins Paris was built.
• Historical sources record that the Parisii tribe set fire to their fortified settlement in 52 BC to stop an invading Roman army from capturing it.
• Further excavations revealed signs of the remains of a wooden building destroyed by fire in front of the wall structure, with early results dating the wooden elements of the wall to between 200BC and 10BC.
• "We are perhaps facing one of the most important vestiges ever discovered to understand the Gallic Lutèce,” said Catherine Pégard, the French minister of culture.

IN FULL

France hails discovery of wall near Notre-Dame as ‘major breakthrough’ for history of Paris