# The Pont du Gard and Roman Nîmes — The South of France
> The greatest Roman aqueduct still standing, three tiers of golden arches over a river, and the city it was built to water. The Pont du Gard and Nîmes, in the Gard.

*Source : https://the-south-of-france.com/en/languedoc/pont-du-gard-nimes/*

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By **The Editors** — _the Gard_

Spring 20268 min read Share LinkMail

The **Pont du Gard** carries no road and no water now, and it is still one of the most astonishing things the Romans left behind — three tiers of arches in honey-gold stone, fifty metres above the **Gardon**, built in the first century to step an aqueduct across the valley on its fifty-kilometre run to **Nîmes**.

## I. The bridge over the Gardon

It was raised without mortar, the blocks cut so true they have held for two thousand years; some still carry the masons’ marks and the jutting stones left for the scaffolding. Come early or late and walk both banks — the scale only lands when a person crosses beneath the lowest arch and shrinks to nothing. In summer the river below is for swimming.

“Two thousand years, no mortar, and not a stone has moved.”

From the notebook

![Golden Roman arches reflected in a river](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1593899025469-8ea731985ccb?fm=jpg&q=74&w=1400&auto=format&fit=crop)

The Pont du Gard from the bank — three tiers, no mortar, full height.

## II. Nîmes, the most Roman city in France

The water ran to **Nîmes**, ancient Nemausus, which keeps more of Rome than any city in France. The **Arènes**, an amphitheatre of the first century, is among the best preserved anywhere and still fills for events; the **Maison Carrée**, a near-perfect temple, stands in the middle of town as it has for two millennia, now faced by a modern gallery across the square.

![A Roman amphitheatre in a southern French city](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1526822162485-79f02ba82a9d?fm=jpg&q=76&w=2400&auto=format&fit=crop)

The Arènes of Nîmes — a first-century amphitheatre, still in use.

## III. Gardens, denim and the road on

Behind the temple, the **Jardins de la Fontaine** were laid out in the eighteenth century around the Roman spring, climbing to the **Tour Magne** for the view over the rooftops. Nîmes also gave the world a word it never asks for credit on: the sturdy cloth _serge de Nîmes_ — **denim**. From here the Languedoc opens west, toward the coast and the canal.

The Practical Carnet · Carnet pratique

### Plan the _visit_

Getting there

Nîmes is on the TGV; the Pont du Gard is about 25 min north by car or seasonal bus.

When to go

Spring and autumn for the city; early or late at the bridge to have it nearly to yourself.

Where to stay

**Maison Albar — L’Imperator**, by the gardens, long the grande dame of Nîmes.

Read next

[The Languedoc — coast, canal and garrigue](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/languedoc/languedoc-guide/)

E

About the Author · L’auteur

#### Élise Marchand

Travel Editor — based in Marseille

Élise has been driving the back roads of the Midi for the journal since its first issue. She pays for her own rooms and her own lunches — and only writes about the places she would return to.

[More by Élise Marchand — voir ses articles](https://the-south-of-france.com/en/journal/)

Continue reading · À lire ensuite

### More from the _South_

[

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Languedoc

#### The Languedoc — coast, canal and garrigue

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The Table

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#### Where to stay in the Languedoc

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