• ARCHAEOLOGY
• WALKING IN MALAGNE
  • Handicraft
  • The art of construction
    • Restoring the bath wing of the main building
  • The farm
  • The kitchen
• TEACHERS
• CHILDREN

The art of construction

The remains of the villa on Malagne are still visible. Especially the main building with the bath chambers is remarkable.

During the restoration the technique of a mortar canon has consolidated the walls without covering them. In this way it is possible to enter all spaces which makes the visit more attractive.

The construction of the main building was started during the Ist century after Christ. It consists of the most important rooms (dinner room, kitchen), cellars and other spaces of which the usage has not yet been proven with certitude. It is surrounded at three sides by an open gallery with columns at the outside of 4 m. height, as shown in the windows at the reception area.

One of the cellars has been well preserved and one can see little niches in the wall that served to put the oil lamps, a cellar window, construction wholes that were left after the scaffoldings had been removed, and traces of the mortar that covered the wall and in which are visible traces of joints that were notched with a poniard in order to improve the attachment of the mortar or plaster.

As this building was built on a hill, there is difference in height at the north side and the wall must have been consolidated by heavy stones and semi round raises.

At the other end of the room, at the south side, is a building of 30 m. long that was built directly on a present rock. Extended bathing possibilities were present in this building: wardrobe, warm baths, tide rooms, cold baths, sudatorium (steam den), etc. The various rooms are yet clearly visible, however, the bathing stretch is hard to distinct.

In the caldarium (at the warm baths) traces can be found of the heating system: tubuli, cells en flagstones of terracotta. The room was heated thanks to the heating of the wall and the ground, by means of air heated by an underground hearth. In order to experience the advantage of such a kind of system the builders had to deepen out the rock to about 1,20 metres. On the floor of the bath chambers traces were found of a waterworks system that lead the water from the bath chamber in the direction of the so called latrines, the toilets. In this way the water could be used again to 'flush' the toilets. Rainwater was also collected to be used in the bath chambers.

In the reception area of Malagne there are panels which show a painted Roman plaster. At the time of the Romans several layers of lime and sand were put on the wall that was thereupon decorated with paint.

First partition walls were built with mortal layer, then a design was sketched and finally the image was painted on the wall. The colouring matters used were of bestial, mineral or vegetable origin, except for black which was obtained from a burned bone or burned piece of wood. Two techniques were used: fresco (on the lime that was still wet) and coating (thinned with water, on dry lime). Traces of wall paintings are found in many Roman villas and in the annexes. The show windows at Malagne give us some examples of the findings here.

The usage of clay for construction purposes was in common use under the Gaulish. At the Gallic Roman era partition wall were built as well. There are two main construction techniques in this: usage of plaster mortar (made of loam and chopped straw) and usage of pisé (stamped earth, loam mortar). The plaster mortar is used on a partition wall of branches of a nut tree that hang between two pillars. The clay is spread on this partition wall, both sides at the same time, which leads to a solid attachment. Pillars are also needed for pisé, and thicker partition walls can be built with this. The clay is pressed to the boarding of a wooden formwork and stamped. The formwork is removed once the clay has dried.

The big innovation that the Romans brought, was the use of bricks in our region. This was really a change in the way of constructing and many labour yards were established, particularly along the Roman road between Bavay-Cologne and the track Sambre-et-Meuse. After extracting the clay it is stocked outside for several months exposed to all weather circumstances. Thereafter it is kneaded to make it supple and water is added. The whole production process is executed with the help of moulds in which the clay is flung about as to fill all edges and holes. The stones are taken from the moulds and put to dry in a ventilated shed. After some weeks, when the stones are dry, they are baked in a large oven that is heated with a considerable amount of firewood in order to keep the temperature around 800°C.

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