Nimes, the Rome of France

We always take our guests to visit the Pont du Gard because it has been standing for 2000 years and it is a spectacular to behold in a beautiful location.

Unless you are going to float down the Gardon River on rented kayaks, like we are going to do this summer, a visit to the Pont du Gard can be completed in 1/2 day. 

So we usually combine our visits to the Pont du Gard with a visit to Uzes or to the Roman city of Nîmes. 

Nîmes has a very long and rich history dating back to the Roman Empire when Nîmes was home to between 50,000 - 60,000 people.

There are several famous and well-preserved monuments such as the Nîmes Arena and the Maison Carrée and because of this Nîmes is often referred to as French Rome. 

The arena in Nîmes is twin to the arena in Arles, most likely from the same period (late 1c to early 2c), an excellent example of the perfection attained by Roman egineers in designing and building large and complex buildings.

From the exterior, you see two floors, each with 60 arches, 21 meters in heighth with an attic.

The arena is oval shaped, it measures 133 meters long and 101 meters wide, with an arena of 68 by 38 meters.

In Roman times, the arena could hold 24,000 spectators spread over 34 rows of spectators divided into 4 separate areas.

Each was accessed via a gallery and hundreds of stairwells and passageways called vomitories. They were called vomitories because they permitted the crowd to exit in a speedy hurry.

The arena was designed so that everyone had an unrestricted view of the entire arena. 

The arena was remodeled in 1863 to serve as a bullring. The arena of Nîmes is the site of bullfights during the Ferias de Nîmes, a popular festival centered on Spanish-style bullfighting. 

The Lycée (high school) Alphonse-Daudet seen below was constructed in the 16th century as a hospice.

The Tour Magne seen below in the distance sits on top of Mont Cavalier, the highest point in Nîmes. It is a vestige of the defenses built around the town. It is a 3-story polygonal tower 112 feet tall.

The Maison Carrée (Square House) seen below, is the best preserved of the Roman temples still standing. It was built under Augustus' (late 1C BC) reign and inspired by the Temple of Apollo in Rome.

Maison Carrée sits on a 2.85 meter high podium, it forms a rectangle almost twice as long as it is wide, measuring 26.42 meters by 13.54 meters. 

A large door (6.87 meters high by 3.27 meters wide) leads to a surprisingly small and windowless interior, where the shrine originally was. The building now houses a tourist oriented film on the Roman history of Nîmes

The Maison Carrée inspired the neoclassical Église de la Madeleine in Paris, St. Marcellinus Church in Rogalin, Poland, and in the United States, the Virginia State Capitol, which was designed by Thomas Jefferson, who had a stucco model made of the Maison Carrée while he was minister to France in 1785.

If you have time, besides the places I have highlighted in this post, you should plan to visit the Jardins de la Fontaine, 18th-century gardens in Nîmes, built in 1745 near the former western defensive ramparts of the city.

Go visit the Pont du Gard if for no other reason, this "masterpiece" has been standing for 2000 years!

Our favorite Roman ruin in the South of France is the Pont du Gard, the aqueduct bridge that crosses the Gardon River about 60 km (37 miles) from our house in Sablet, between the towns of Remoulins and Uzès.

The Pont du Gard is part of a 50 km (31 mile) aqueduct constructed by the Romans in the middle of the 1st century to bring fresh water from the Eure spring near Uzès, to the Roman city of Nîmes where it supplied running water to fountains, baths and private homes around the city.

The Pont du Gard has three tiers of arches; It is 274 meters (899 ft) in length and stands at a height of 48.8 m (160 ft). Its width varies from 9 m (30 ft) at the bottom to 3 m (9.8 ft) at the top. The three levels of arches are recessed, with the main piers in line one above another.

As you walk out to the Pont du Gard, look for the ancient olive trees on the Left Bank along the path from the Visitor Center. The plaque by one of the trees says it was born in 908 and lived in Spain till 1985 when the Counsel General of the Gard adopted the tree and planted it here in 1988.

1,000 year old Olive tree near the Pont du Gard

Make sure you check out the construction of the bridge, take in the view up or down the river valley, wander across to the far side, explore down along the river and climb up the steps to the upper trail where you have great views of the bridge and surrounding area.

Pont du Gard

The Pont du Gard was constructed largely without the use of mortar or clamps. Most of the stones were extracted from the Estel quarry located approximately 700 meters (2,300 ft) downstream, on the banks of the Gardon River. The stones were cut to fit perfectly together by friction and gravity, eliminating the need for mortar.

The builders left inscriptions on the stonework conveying various messages and instructions. Many blocks were numbered and inscribed with the required locations, such as fronte dextra or fronte sinistra (front right or front left), to guide the builders

Underside of Pont du Gard archway with Roman Numeral placement markings

Shirley at Pont du Gard

The straight-line distance from the spring near Uzès to the town of Nîmes is only about 20 km (12 mi), but the mostly underground aqueduct was built along a winding route measuring around 50 km (31 mi) to circumvent the southernmost foothills of the Massif Central, known as the Garrigues de Nîmes. This was the only practical way to transport water from the spring to the town.

Pont du Gard from right bank of Gardon River

The Romans needed a way to get the water that would flow through the aqueduct across the Gardon River so they built the Pont du Gard with a water channel to complete the aqueduct and get water to its destination in Nîmes.

A view of the Pont du Gard from the left bank of the Gardon River

It is estimated that the aqueduct supplied Nîmes with around 40,000 cubic meters (8,800,000 imp gal) of water a day that took nearly 27 hours to flow from the spring to the town.

A view of the water channel at the top of the Pont du Gard from the left bank of the Gardon River

As I noted earlier, the Pont du Gard was built to carry water from the aqueduct across the Gardon River. Several of the River's tributaries are also called Gardon. The Gardon River rises in the Cévennes mountain range and flows for 133 km into the Rhône River at Beaucaire, from where it flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

View of the Gardon River towards Uzès from Pont du Gard

The Pont du Gard is one of the most popular tourist attractions in France and is open all year round, though the restaurant and some indoor areas close for part of the winter. You can stay there after dark (exact closing times vary depending on the season), when the bridge is illuminated in summer.

As I told you here, a fun way to view the Pont du Gard is from a canoe or kayak on the Gardon River on a hot summer day. There are several companies around Collias that will rent canoes and provide transportation to your point of departure and from your point of arrival.

The Pont du Gard was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites in 1985. The description on the list states: "The Roman architects and hydraulic engineers who designed this bridge created a technical as well as an artistic masterpiece."

Shirley and friends in front of Pont du Gard

When we go, we park in the lot on the Rive Gauche (Left Bank) which is the main entry and parking lot. The main visitor center is on this side, where you walk through to access the Pont du Gard. There is a small charge for parking and they have recently instituted a fee for visiting the Pont du Gard.

The visitors' center is where the ticket machines and information center are located. Here too are restrooms, snack bar, souvenir shops, book store and audio-guides for your visit (available in several languages).

If you have comments or questions about the Pont du Gard, or elsewhere in Provence, please leave your comments below or send me an email at my address below.

If you are thinking about a trip to the South of France including spending time in Provence, we invite you to visit our website. Our house is available for rent by the week or more. We still have some weeks open in April, June, and August. You can reach us for further information by sending an email to chcmichel@aol.com.

A visit with friends to the amazing Roman Pont du Gard

Our favorite Roman ruin in the South of France is the Pont du Gard, the aqueduct bridge that crosses the Gardon River in the Gard Department of Languedoc-Roussillon about 60 km (37 miles) from our home in Sablet, between Remoulins and Uzès.

The Pont du Gard is part of the 50 km (31 mile) Nîmes aqueduct constructed by the Romans in the 1st century between 41 and 54 AD to bring fresh water from a spring near Uzès, the Fontaine d'Eure, to the Roman city of Nîmes where it was distributed to fountains, baths and private homes around the city.

When we go, we park in the lot on the Rive Gauche - Left Bank which is the main entry and parking lot. The main visitor center is on this side, where you walk through to access the Pont du Gard. There is a small charge for parking and they have recently instituted a fee for visiting the Pont du Gard.

The visitors' center is where the ticket machines and information center are located. Here too are restrooms, snack bar, souvenir shops, book store and audio-guides for your visit (available in several languages).

It is a short walk from the visitors' center to the Pont du Gard. If you go, make sure you check out the construction, enjoy the view up or down the river valley, wander across to the far side, explore down along the river and climb up the steps to the upper trail where you have great views of the bridge and surrounding area.

View of Pont du Gard as you arrive from Visitor's Center

As you walk out to the Pont du Gard, make sure to look for the ancient olive tree on the Rive Gauche - Left Bank along the path to the Pont du Gard from the Visitor Center. The sign by the tree says it was born in 908 and lived in Spain till 1985 when the Counsel General of the Gard adopted the tree and planted it here in 1988

Ancient olive tree along path to Pont du Gard from Left Bank Visitor's Center

The Gardon River seen below gives its name to the Gard Department. Several of its tributaries are also called Gardon. The Gardon is 133 km long and flows into the Rhône River at Beaucaire, from where it flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

View south down the Gardon River from Pont du Gard

After the Roman Empire collapsed and the aqueduct fell into disuse, the Pont du Gard remained largely intact, due to the importance of its secondary function, as a toll bridge. For centuries the local lords and bishops were responsible for its upkeep, in exchange for the right to levy tolls on travelers crossing the river.

Pedestrian roadway at the base of the Pont du Gard

The Pont du Gard was built of soft-yellow limestone blocks taken from nearby Estel quarry that borders the Gardon river's left bank and assembled largely without mortar or clamps. The stones, some of which weigh up to 6 tons, were cut to perfectly fit together eliminating the need for mortar. The cut stone was lifted into place with a human-powered treadmill providing the power for the winch.

Pont du Gard from the upper trail

The straight-line distance between Nîmes and the water source is only about 20 km (12 mi). However due to uneven terrain, the mostly underground aqueduct takes a long, winding route measuring around 50 km (31 mi). The Romans had to build a bridge with a channel to allow water to flow across the Gardon River to successfully complete the aqueduct.

Channel on top of Pont du Gard that carried water across the Gardon River

The Aqueduct of Nîmes had the capacity to carry 35,000 cubic meters of water a day from the spring which was the source of fresh water for the city of Nîmes. It took nearly 27 hours for the water to get from the spring to Nîmes.

Some sections of the channel are tunneled through solid rock as you can see below. In all, 35 km (22 mi) of the aqueduct was constructed below the ground.

The entrance to the underground channel after the water crossed the Pont du Gard

The Pont du Gard has three tiers of arches; the bottom row has 6 arches of 22 m (72 ft) height; the middle row has 11 arches 20 m (66 ft) height; and the upper row has 35 (originally 47) arches of 7 m (23 ft) height. The width of the bridge varies from 9 m (30 ft) at the bottom to 3 m (9.8 ft) at the top. It has a length of 274 m (899 ft) and stands at a height of 48.8 m (160 ft).

View of Pont du Gard from upper trail

As I told you here, an excellent way to view the Pont du Gard from a completely different perspective is from a canoe on the Gardon River on a hot summer day. There are several canoe companies around Collias that will provide shuttle transport to your point of departure and from your point of arrival.

Shirley and neighbors at the Pont du Gard

The Pont du Gard is open all year round, though the restaurant and some indoor areas close for part of the winter. You can stay there after dark (exact closing times vary depending on the season), when the bridge is illuminated in summer.

View north up the Gardon River from the Pont du Gard with the 19th century watermill in the distance

Despite having been to the Pont du Gard quite a few times, Shirley and I are amazed anew each time by the sheer size of the bridge and how the Romans were able to design and build it without much more than math and manpower. It is believed to have taken about fifteen years to build, employing between 800 and 1,000 workers.

If you are in the area, we think this is one of the sites you must visit. Let us know what you think.

A visit to Nîmes, the "Rome" of France

As I have shared before, we try to find opportunities to hook up with our cousins who live near Montpellier in someplace mutually convenient for them and us. So one Saturday, a few months back, neighbors Bob, Darlene, Ed and Gwen in tow, we headed to Nîmes to meet up with them for lunch.

Nîmes has a very long and rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire when the city was home to between 50-60,000 people. There are several famous monuments, such as the Nîmes Arena and the Maison Carrée and because of this, Nîmes is often referred to as the French Rome.

The town derives its name from a spring in the Roman village. The Nîmes coat of arms depicts a crocodile chained to a palm tree with the inscription COL NEM, for Colonia Nemausus, meaning the "colony" or "settlement" of Nemausus, the local Celtic god. Roman legion veterans who served under Julius Caesar on his Nile campaigns were given plots of land around Nîmes to cultivate after fifteen years of soldiering.

Saint Paul church seen below was built between 1835 and 1849 in Neo-Romanesque style by Charles Questel, and classified as a historical monument in 1909. The organ was built in 1848.

Saint Paul Church

The Maison Carrée (Square House) seen below, is the best preserved of the Roman temples still standing. It was built under Augustus' (late 1C BC) reign and inspired by the Temple of Apollo in Rome.

Maison Carrée

Consecrated to the imperial cult and dedicated to Augustus grandsons, the temple faced the forum and was surrounded by a portico of finely carved columns.

Maison Carrée

Maison Carrée sits on a 2.85 meter high podium, it forms a rectangle almost twice as long as it is wide, measuring 26.42 meters by 13.54 meters. A large door (6.87 meters high by 3.27 meters wide) leads to a surprisingly small and windowless interior, where the shrine originally was. This now houses a tourist oriented film on the Roman history of Nîmes.

Maison Carrée

The Maison Carrée inspired the neoclassical Église de la Madeleine in Paris, St. Marcellinus Church in Rogalin, Poland, and in the United States, the Virginia State Capitol, which was designed by Thomas Jefferson, who had a stucco model made of the Maison Carrée while he was minister to France in 1785.

Maison Carrée

Saint Paul Church

Nîmes street

The Arena of Nîmes is a twin to the arena in Arles, most likely from the same period (late 1c - early 2c), an excellent example of the perfection attained by Roman engineers in designing and constructing extremely complex building. It demonstrates perfect symmetry: oval-shaped, it measures 133 meters long and 101 meters wide, with an arena of 68 by 38 meters.

From the exterior, you see two floors, each with 60 arches, 21 meters in total height, topped with an attic. At the top, pre-drilled stones were positioned to overhang so that long poles could be hung over the arena. A huge canvas canopy was then attached to these poles, thereby providing protection for the spectators against the sun and bad weather.

Arena of Nîmes

In Roman times, the arena could hold 24,000 spectators spread over 34 rows of terraces divided into four separate areas or maeniana. Each was accessed via a gallery and hundred of stairwells and passages called vomitories. This clever arrangement meant that there was no risk of bottlenecks when the spectators flooded in.

The arena was designed so that everyone had an unrestricted view of the whole arena. Several galleries were located beneath the arena, and were accessed by trap doors and a hoist-lift system. As a result, the decorative effects, animals and gladiators could access the arena during the games.

Interior of Nîmes Arena

The arena was remodeled in 1863 to serve as a bullring. The arena of Nîmes is the site of bullfights during the Ferias de Nîmes, a popular festival centered on Spanish-style bullfighting held twice each year in Nîmes, the 1st Feria from Wednesday before Pentecost to Pentecost Monday and the 2nd Feria on the third Friday, Saturday and Sunday of September.

View from arena through an arch entryway

The exits from the arena were called vomitorias because they permitted the crowd to exit the arena in a speedy manner.

Arena Vomitory

Arena Vomitory

The Lycée (high school) Alphonse-Daudet seen below was constructed in the 16th century as a hospice

Lycée (high school) Alphonse-Daudet

View of Lycée Alphonse-Daudet from the arena

Construction for Sainte-Perpétue et Sainte-Félicité de Nîmes church (the tower can be seen in the distance below) began in 1852. The first stone was laid by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. Construction was completed in 1854.

Interior of arena with view of Sainte-Perpétue et Sainte-Félicité de Nîmes church in the distance

The Nîmes Cathedral (Its formal French name is the "Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Castor de Nîmes") seen in the distance below is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and to the local Saint Castor of Apt. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishops of Nîmes, Uzès and Alès.

The Nîmes Cathedral was built in 1096, suffered major damage during the Wars of Religion and was almost entirely rebuilt in the 19C. The cathedral is believed to stand on the site of the former temple of Augustus. It is partly Romanesque and partly Gothic in style.

View of the Nîmes Cathedral from the top row of the arena

The Tour Magne seen below in the distance sits on top of Mont Cavalier, the highest point in Nîmes. It is a vestige of the defenses built around the town. It is a 3-story polygonal tower 112 feet tall.

View of Tour Magne from the top of the arena

Interior walkway around the Nimes arena

Nîmes arena

Shirley with cousins Christine and Matthias and his friend Aurelie

Saint Paul Church

View of Sainte-Perpétue et Sainte-Félicité de Nîmes church in the distance

In case you are going to Nîmes and need a restaurant suggestion, we had an excellent lunch at Aux Plaisirs des Halles seen below, a restaurant designated as a Bib Gourmand by Michelin.

Aux Plaisirs des Halles

If you have time, besides the places I have highlighted in this post, you should plan to visit the Jardins de la Fontaine, 18th-century gardens in Nîmes, built in 1745 near the former western defensive ramparts of the city.