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CHINON (Town) MAINE-CENTRE
Caino (Chinon) Touraine, France.
On the river Vienne, 16 km upstream from its confluence with the Loire at Condate
(Candes, where St. Martin died about 397), and 48 km SW of Caesarodunum, capital
of the Civitas Turanorum (Tours). Earlier a Gallic oppidum (Caino is a Celtic
word meaning beautiful, related to German schon), in Roman times it was a prosperous
small town. At the end of the 3d c. the castle was walled against the Bagaudes
and other invaders. An important pre-Roman road linking Caesarodunum (Tours) to
Lugdunum (Loudun) and Poitou, by Rotomagus (Pont-de-Ruan) crossed the Vienne at
a ford 4.8 km upstream of Chinon, at Riparia (Riviere).
Excavations in 1824-26 in several parts of the castle led to the discovery
of the Gallo-Roman 3d c. wall, made of huge blocks of stone, fragments of reused
sculptures, funeral stelai, etc., from local monuments, and hard mortar. Under
the wall were found 15 holes filled with ashes. The principal sculptures are preserved
in towers of the castle and the Archaeological Museum in Tours. Roman coins of
Postumus (261-267) and Tetricus (268-273) come from the same excavations.
Villas have been found in the town and on its E border, with hypocausts,
fragments of columns, coins, sherds of sigillata and other wares, tiles, etc.;
the principal sites are la Grange Lienard, l'Olive Gueritaude, and l'Hotel de
France. The material is preserved in the local Musee des Amis du Vieux Chinon.
R. MAUNY, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Feb 2006 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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