Step back in history with this massive LEGO Roman City, including hundreds of thousands of pieces and detailed buildings.
Located in France, the modern city of Lyon is built on the old city of Lugdunum. Lugdunum was an important Roman City in Gaul. Founded in 43 BCE, on the site of an older Gallic City, Lugdunum was the birthplace of two Emperors and may have housed up to 200,000 people. In later years, it gained importance for its mint.
As an important city and birthplace of Emperors, the city got its fair share of monumental Roman construction. Evidence suggests that Gallic gods were worshiped in the City alongside the Roman ones. The local rivers were a major source of trade and income as well. All in all, the city is a prime example of a classic Roman city outside of Italy. Rich and multicultural, with massive monumental public buildings.
LEGO Roman City
Today Lugdunum has been partly brought to LEGO life by builder Sandor Berecz and his team at Unibrick. They’ve constructed a massive display of some of the city’s buildings that is housed in an actual Greco-Roman history museum in modern Lyon. The build is 23 m2 and contains over 1 million pieces (many in the water). It took about nine months to build. While Sandor and his co-workers led the project, over 1,000 visitors also helped with construction. As he says, it was a real Roman-style project!
The build, called “Lugdu’Briques, The Roman city” is truly magnificent. While it’s not a one-to-one recreation of Roman-era Lyon/Lugdunum, it does contain many buildings from the ancient city and shows you what others might have looked like.
For instance, in the center, you have the paired theaters of the Odeon of Lyon and Theatre of Fourvière. One of them (Fourviete, I think) is shown under construction. Nearby, you can also see a Circus or a race track. However, we don’t know for sure that the one in Lyon was located, so this is somewhat of a guess.
Other important parts of the city you can see are the river and the walls. The river was the lifeblood of Lyon, and the walls helped protect the city. Roman houses, temples, and places fill out the amazing display. Some of these appear to be based on real buildings in Lyon. Others seem based on general Roman architectural styles. Overall, this isn’t just a cool build; it’s also a very educational one.
Get a Closer Look At The Roman City
Check out these awesome details you can find in the build.
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Pyramid of Giza
Looking to build a part of the ancient world yourself? Why not go for something even the Romans thought was classic: the Great Pyramid? This amazing LEGO kit brings this wonder of the world to life at its height. Fun fact: the City of Rome MOC is closer to our time than to the setting of this kit.
Take a leap back to the 26th century BC and build one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This cross-sectioned model reveals the main tunnels and chambers within the pyramid, as well as the system theorized to have been used to move huge stones during its construction. Outside of the pyramid stand two small pyramids, two mortuary temples, Sphinx statues, and an obelisk. You can even take a boat down the Nile.
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