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The town of Nimes became a Roman colony sometime before 28BC, and still has some amazine Roman architecture that was built by the Romans 2,000 years ago! We saw the Maison Carrée temple, the Pont du Gard aqueduct, the temple of Diane, and the Arena of Nîmes (Roman amphitheater.) A lot different than walking around Harrisburg PA. |
| The Maison Carrée was built c. 16 BC. It is one of the best preserved temples to be found anywhere in the territory of the former Roman Empire. |
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| The Temple de Diane is part of the public nymphaeum (area decorated with sculptures and fountains) and is dated sometime during the reign of Augustus (27 BC. to 14 AD.) |
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| The Roman amphitheater was built around 70 AD, and remodeled in 1863 to serve as a bullring. It still hosts two annual bullfights and other public events. A concert was being held later in the evening of the day we were there. |
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(from wikipedia) The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge that was part of the 31 mile Nimes Aqueduct that runs between Uzès and Nîmes. It was constructed in the 1st century AD and is the highest of all Roman aqueduct bridges and the best preserved after the Aqueduct of Segovia. It was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1985. The bridge has three tiers of arches, standing 160 ft high. The whole aqueduct descends in height by only 56 ft over its entire length, while the bridge descends by a mere 0.98 in, indicative of the great precision that Roman engineers were able to achieve using only simple technology. The aqueduct formerly carried an estimated 44,000,000 gallons of water a day to the fountains, baths and homes of the citizens of Nîmes. It was possibly in use until as late as the 9th century, well after the fall of Rome. It underwent a series of renovations that culminated in 2000 with the opening of a new visitor centre. Today it is one of France's most popular tourist attractions |
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| Back to friends and family pictures. |
| PREVIOUS (day trip to Cassis) | Day Trip to Nimes | NEXT (Paris - Eiffel Tower) |