Tumulus of Glimes, Gallo-Roman burial mound in Glimes, Belgium.
The Tumulus of Glimes is a Gallo-Roman burial mound on the Champs de la Tombe, near the Roman road at Glimes in Incourt. It rises 15 metres and measures over 50 metres across, covered in grass and topped by a single lime tree. Its builders levelled the sloping ground and laid two concentric stone foundation rings; only the rough tufa structure of the outer 50-metre ring survives.
Built around 120–140 AD, the mound was raised on levelled ground over two concentric stone foundation rings, the outer one 50 m across. It is recorded as the "tombe de Glimes" on sheet 114 of the Ferraris atlas of 1777. The burial chamber was already emptied by unknown diggers, work sometimes attributed to French troops camped in Hesbaye in 1745. Baron de Loë and Edmond Rahir explored it by underground tunnel in 1926; further digs followed around 1999 and in 2002, and it was protected in 1971.
Local tradition held that benches and a plantation of trees once stood on the summit, and that the first dance of the communal festival was performed there. The mound is listed as the "tombe de Glimes" on sheet 114 of the Ferraris atlas of 1777. A single lime tree now stands at the top.
The mound stands on Rue de la Tombe Romaine in Glimes, part of Incourt in Walloon Brabant, on the spot called Champs de la Tombe near the old Roman road. It is a steep earthen slope of dry grass with no path or railing, so walking up to the solitary lime tree calls for firm, non-slip footwear. The site and its surroundings have been protected as a landscape since 1971.
The mound is listed as "tombe de Glimes" on sheet 114 of the Ferraris atlas of 1777, so its outline was already being mapped two centuries ago. Local tradition held that benches and a plantation of trees stood on the summit, where the first dance of the communal festival was held.
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