Cularo

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (August 2012) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Cularo]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|fr|Cularo}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Cularo was the name of the Gallic city which evolved into modern Grenoble. It was renamed Gratianopolis in 381 to honor Roman emperor Gratian.

The first remaining reference to what is now Grenoble dates back to a July 43 BC letter by Munatius Plancus to Cicero.^[1] The small town founded by the Allobroges Gallic people was at that time called Cularo. In 292, the western emperor Maximian elevated the town to the rank of Civitas, "city", and ordered the construction of defensive walls which both protected the urban area and marked its higher status. Their vestiges are now a landmark of this era.

Wishing to thank and honor the emperor Gratian for creating its bishopric, the inhabitants of Cularo renamed their town Gratianopolis in 381. That name would subsequently evolve into Grenoble through Graignovol.

The Saint-Laurent crypt and the baptistery of Grenoble date also back from the Gallo-Roman period (4th century), and have been preserved to this day; the latter remained in use until the 9th century but had later been buried under accumulated urban layers; it was rediscovered in 1989 during the construction of tramway tracks, excavated until 1996, and incorporated into the adjacent Musée de l'Ancien Évêché. Several small sections of the Gallo-Roman city wall are also visible in the old town, especially in rue Lafayette.

• William Smith, ed. (1872) [1854]. "Cularo". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray. hdl:2027/hvd.ah5cuq.

• Perseus.

45°11′32″N 5°43′50″E / 45.19222°N 5.73056°E / 45.19222; 5.73056