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Nîmes, capital of the Gard department

Saturday, 4 October 2014 - 01:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union
Category/Kategorie: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Nîmes is a city in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France. It is the capital of the Gard department. Nîmes is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Cévennes mountains. The estimated population of Nîmes is 176,000.

Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire when the city was home to 50,000 – 60,000 people. Augustus gave the town a ring of ramparts six kilometres (3.7 miles) long, reinforced by fourteen towers; two gates remain today: the Porta Augusta and the Porte de France. An aqueduct was built to bring water from the hills to the north. Where this crossed the River Gard between Uzes and Remoulins, the spectacular Pont du Gard was built. This is 20 kilometres (12 miles) north east of the city. Several famous monuments are in Nîmes, such as the Nîmes Arena and the Maison Carrée. Because of this, Nîmes is often referred to as the French Rome.

Several important remains of the Roman Empire can still be seen in and around Nîmes:

• The elliptical Roman amphitheatre, of the 1st or 2nd century AD, is the best-preserved Roman arena in France. It was filled with medieval housing, when its walls served as ramparts, but they were cleared under Napoleon. It is still used today as a bull fighting and concert arena.
• The Maison Carrée (Square House), a small Roman temple dedicated to sons of Agrippa was built c. 19 BC. It is one of the best-preserved Roman temples anywhere. Today, visitors can watch a short film about the history of Nîmes inside.
• The 18th-century Jardins de la Fontaine (Gardens of the Fountain) built around the Roman thermae ruins.
• The nearby Mont Cavalier is crowned by the Tour Magne (“Great Tower”), a ruined Roman tower.

There is modern architecture at Nîmes too: Norman Foster conceived the Carré d’art (1986), a museum of modern art and mediatheque; Jean Nouvel‘s the Nemausus, a post-modern residential ensemble, and Kisho Kurokawa‘s building in the form of a hemicycle reflects the Amphitheatre. Tree-shaded boulevards trace the foundations of its former city walls.

Nîmes is historically known for its textiles. Denim, the fabric of blue jeans, derives its name from this city (Serge de Nîmes).

Read more on City of Nîmes, Nîmes Tourism, Arènes de Nîmes and Wikipedia Nîmes. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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