Villa gallo-romaine de Brachaud, archaeological site in Limoges, France

The Villa gallo-romaine de Brachaud is a Gallo-Roman villa site in Limoges, built in the 1st century AD near the ancient city of Augustoritum. It comprised a dwelling house and baths. Today low walls of small, roughly cut stone in light brown, tan, gray and ochre trace an irregular plan of rectangular and rounded sections around flat areas of pale sandy earth, with the tallest masonry standing as a curved wall segment.

The villa was built in the first centuries after Christ during Roman rule in Gaul and served as the home of a wealthy family. It was abandoned in the fourth century and has been studied through excavations starting in the 1970s.

The villa belonged to a wealthy Roman family and reflects how the upper class lived and enjoyed leisure in the region. The bath facilities that remain show the comfort available to residents and reveal how important such spaces were for daily Roman life.

The excavated area lies in Limoges, near the site of ancient Augustoritum, and is reached on foot; the low walls of small cut stone enclose flat sandy ground, so wear shoes suited to uneven earth. Excavations by Jean-Pierre Loustaud between 1974 and 1986 uncovered the house and baths, and the remains are protected as a classified historical monument, so the masonry should not be climbed or moved.

The villa was excavated by Jean-Pierre Loustaud between 1974 and 1986, work that revealed the residential house and baths. The site is also known as the vestiges gallo-romains d'Uzurat, the name used in the Ministry of Culture listing. The low walls of small, roughly cut stone in tan, gray and ochre are what remains above ground.