Autun

Augustodunum was founded under Augustus and built large: the Roman theatre held around twenty thousand people, making it one of the biggest in Gaul, and two monumental gates, the Porte d'Arroux and the Porte Saint-Andre, still stand with their arcaded upper galleries. The cathedral of Saint-Lazare, built in the twelfth century, carries a tympanum of the Last Judgement by Gislebertus, who carved his name beneath Christ's feet, an early instance of a medieval sculptor signing work. Its elongated, unsettling figures were plastered over in the eighteenth century, which preserved them. The Eve of Autun, a reclining nude from the same workshop, is in the town museum.

What you actually see

• The Gislebertus tympanum - a signed Romanesque Last Judgement over the door.
• The Roman gates - Porte d'Arroux and Porte Saint-Andre with upper arcades.
• The Roman theatre - a large open bowl still used for events.
• The Eve of Autun - a famous carved nude in the Musee Rolin.

When to go

April to October; the cathedral is open year-round. Summer evenings host a Gallo-Roman spectacle in the theatre. The Morvan hills around are good in autumn.

Honest expectations

The Roman remains are fragments scattered through a working town rather than a site. The museum has had long closure and renovation periods. The tympanum is best seen with binoculars for the detail.

Nearby

The Morvan park lies north; Beaune is east.