The origin of the name TERRICIAË

 

According to Wikipedia sources: The oppidum des Caisses de Jean-Jean is an archaeological site located north of the town of Mouriès, in the Bouches-du-Rhône. It dates back to protohistoric times. It was the subject of excavations by archaeologist Fernand Benoit from 1935 to 1942. It is an oppidum located in a basin surrounded by two limestone rock bars to the north and south which meet in the east for form an acropolis 1. Fortifications from several eras have been identified there, attesting to the population of this oppidum from the 6th to the 1st centuries BC. J.-C. Is the oppidum the site of the ancient Tericiae?

 

The Peutinger map refers to a named place

Tericias (Tericiae)

 

The Peutinger Table (Tabula Peutingeriana or Peutingeriana Tabula Itineraria), also called "Map of the stages of Castorius", a thirteenth century copy of an old Roman map showing the roads and the main cities of the Roman Empire that made up the course publicus refers to a place she calls Tericias, a dative form of Tericiae. From east to west, from Aix-en-Provence to the Rhône, we read the following names: Aquis Sextis XVIII Pisavis XVIII Te [r] icias. These indications locate Tericiae on the territory of the municipality of Mouriès, a little to the west of the village. But many researchers have wondered about its identification, its Latin name apparently not having passed in a modern toponym. And we could logically wonder whether we should not see in the oppidum of the Caisses of Jean-Jean the site of the ancient Tericiae. It is a named Villevieille, antiquarian in Montpellier who, the first, proposed to see in Tericiae the ancient Mouriès. The historian-prefect, Christophe de Villeneuve-Bargemon (1824), locates the city on the property of Jean-Jean. In 1884, Isidore Gilles proposed the Castelette district, located between the village of Mouriès and the Caisses de Jean-Jean. Since 1895 and the studies of L. Rochetin, it seems established that Tericiae should be seen below the oppidum. According to Fernand Benoit, once the Roman peace settled in Basse-Provence, the population of the oppidum would have descended in the plain which it would have colonized, giving birth to the town of Tericiae 6. Benoit even proposes a precise site, between the Caisses, Castellas, Mazet and the hamlet of Baumettes. For Patrice Arcelin, on the other hand, the coexistence of the Caisses and Tericiae testify to the creation of outlying districts with ancient settlements in all the Alpilles; we observe the same phenomenon in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, from the sixth century BC. AD, with the settlement of Mount Gaussier set back from Glanum.

 

What to do in Mouriès:

 

 

· Major archaeological site of the Alpilles chain for its area and duration of occupation, from the 7th century BC to the 3rd century AD. To go further, download the guide l'Oppidum Gaulois des Caisses by Jean Jean.

Golf de Mouriès, domain of Servanne

Tennis 3 courts

Climbing: Jean-Jean's crates in Mouriès (2h / 6km) also a site in Aureille, Fontvieille and Paradou

. Horseback ride with the Petit Roman

Flower fair in May

Camargue race

Votive festival (village)

Feast of broken green olives

Olive oil festival 1st weekend in December

Wine cellars: visit and tasting

Oil mills: visit and tasting
Discovery of the heritage: Mouriès, its church, its chapels, the Mas de Brau ...

  · For lovers of walking or cycling, you can prepare your outings using the website www.cheminsdesparcs.fr . There you will find several marked trails with different levels of difficulty. From the site you can download the sheets or print them.

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