Having trouble imagining Toulouse decorated with 4th-century nude Venuses and Corinthian columns? This light-filled museum neatly aligns the city's modern neighbourhoods with Roman remnants that once stood there. Standout displays include stone reliefs of Hercules’ labours on the 1st floor, while the 2nd floor has eye-popping fragments of a 4th–5th-century mosaic from the villa de St-Rustice, the remnants of a huge, marine-themed design with somersaulting dolphins. Don’t skip the necropolis in the basement, an enchantingly lit space with ancient sarcophagi and tomb steles.
©Andy Arthur / Alamy Stock Photo
Musée St-Raymond
Toulouse