What sly secrets simmer beneath Dax's stones?

In the heart of Dax, there's a secret, an ancient bone buried so deep beneath its cobblestones. In the year of 1978, during housing construction, archaeological remnants were unearthed, revealing what is now thought to have been the foundation of a monument from the first centuries AD. Pondered to be a temple, these remnants later transformed into a basilica civile, a collective space for civic gatherings and meting out justice. With few basiliques known in the Roman world, this find is a hefty find indeed.

The most prized archaeological treasures of the museum reside in the crypt archaeological site. This site, inscribed as a historical monument by decree on the 29th of May, 1980, has been preserved beneath the building. The question lingers, what was the purpose of this ancient structure? Why has it been all but forgotten for so long? We invite you to dive into the enigmas tucked away in Dax, and contemplate how a city as riveting as this could keep such a secret for centuries.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons