Work on the Angers library delayed by a medieval cemetery – Entreprise-Angers.com

The establishment was to close its public doors at the end of December. Ultimately, a three to four month reprieve will push back the deadline. In question: an archaeological discovery under the current parking lot.

Barely started, the renovation project of the Angers media library is already on hold: while the opening hours of the establishment have been significantly reduced since October in order to facilitate the transfer of collections to other sites in anticipation works, the initial schedule of the rehabilitation program has already been disrupted. The site was to close its doors to the public in a little over a month, and until 2027: this deadline, feared by many users, is finally postponed until the beginning of next spring, in April, without further details for the moment.

This setback is linked to the results of archaeological excavations carried out preventively on the site, before the construction site and the erection of new buildings, particularly in the parking lot, block access to its underground part: it is precisely at the level of the squares parking lot that a remarkable discovery was announced, following a diagnosis carried out last spring. It is a cemetery for the poor dating from medieval times. This place dedicated to the dead hosted remains for more than three centuries (11th – 14th centuries) thanks to alms collected by the nearby Toussaint Abbey. “There could be between 1,800 to 3,200 burials within the perimeter of the extension planned as part of the work on the municipal library” indicates in a press release Nicolas Dufetel, Deputy for Culture and Heritage.

The discovery of a cemetery of such magnitude is a gold mine for archaeologists and historians: the place will in fact contain a multitude of information on local customs (funeral practices, diets, funerary practices). and the health and demographic context of the time (age of the deceased, cause of their death, impact of epidemics, etc.)

According to Nicolas Dufetel, “An excavation project lasting around two years and an additional budget of several million euros would be predictable.”

However, for the moment, we are heading towards a short-term suspension of the work, with a rescheduling and rearrangement of its stages.