NÎMES

So since Montpellier is only 1000 years old, they decided to show us some real history on Sunday by visiting Nîmes, which was Nemausus prior to 6th century A.D., and Le Pont du Gard, built in the 1st century A.D.

The most well-known structure in Nîmes would probably be Les Arènas which was built at the end of the 1st century. It seated up to 20,000 spectators, but after the Roman era, there weren’t many spectacles. During Le Moyen-Âge, Les Arènas was turned into a fortress for the town building 2 churches and a house inside. Today, they have bleachers for concerts, corridas, tennis, ect...

Another cool built in the 5th century is La Maison Carrée (“the square house”) – one of the best conserved temples of the Roman world used for political, philosophical, and religious debates.

My favorite part of Nîmes was Les Jardins de la Fontaine (ABOVE & BELOW), which was built in honor of Nemausus with a temple to goddess Diane. It contained endless levels of parks and gardens full of marble statues, staircases, waterfalls. Hopefully my pictures can try to do it justice…

***interesting tidbit BLUE JEANS originated in Nîmes!!!! It’s textile industry created denim during the Middle Ages!!!***