The Gergovie Monument (French: monument de Gergovie) or Memorial to Vercingetorix (French: monument commémoratif à Vercingétorix) is a monument by the Clermontois architect Jean Teillard [fr] built in 1900[1] on the eastern edge of the Gergovie plateau, a few kilometers south of Clermont-Ferrand in the French departement of Puy-de-Dôme in Auvergne. It commemorates Vercingetorix's victory over Julius Caesar on this site in 52 BC.[1][2]

Gergovie Monument
Map
TypeMonument in Volvic stone
Completion date1900 (1900)

The monument was registered as a French Monument historique in March 2018[3] (the oppidum was registered in 2013) and in November of the same year, the monument was classified, included in a much larger classification of a major part of the Gergovie plateau.[4]

Characteristics

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Latin plate above the crypt door

The 26-meter-high monument[1] is made of Volvic stone [fr]. It is composed of a support base with 3 columns topped by Corinthian capitals and a Gaulish helmet in whimsical form.[1] The base houses a crypt with a cenotaph of Vercingetorix.[2] Three plates adorn the building.

One of the plates, above the entrance of the crypt on the west side, has the following inscription in Latin:

GERGOVIA
IN HIS LOCIS DVX ARVERNORVM
VERCINGETORIX
C CESAREM INVADENTEM PROFLIGAVIT

Translated into English:

Gergovie / In this place, the Arverni chief / Vercingetorix / defeated the invader Gaius Caesar

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See also

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References

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  • Partial translation of the French Wikipedia article (22 October 2019 version).
  1. ^ a b c d The Monument Archived 2020-06-27 at the Wayback Machine, Tourist office of Gergovie (in French)
  2. ^ a b Ehrard, Antoinette (1980). Vercingétorix contre Gergovie ? Nos ancêtres les Gaulois (in French). Clermont-Ferrand: Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines de Clermont-Ferrand.
  3. ^ "Oppidum de Gergovie", French Ministry of Culture. (in French)
  4. ^ "List of the Historical monuments protected buildings in 2018", published in Journal Officiel de la République Française, 12 may 2019, text 18. (in French)
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45°43′16″N 3°07′37″E / 45.7210°N 3.1269°E / 45.7210; 3.1269