The Romans

You cannot go far here in Provence without running into examples of Roman buildings, bridges, towns, and water systems.  Most of it dates from around 2,000 years ago when the Roman empire extended right across Europe and the Middle East.  At its peak in about 100 AD it included modern-day Egypt, Morocco, Spain, Britain, Turkey and the Balkans.  In Nimes we saw the Maison Carree, the arena, and the gardens.

Glanum

Glanum is the Roman town discovered just outside Saint Remy.  Its oldest traces date back to 600 BC, and it was Greek before being taken by the Romans.  Eventually the town was buried apart from the large cenotaph and triumphal arch, before being rediscovered in the 1900s and excavated.  The site is now a tourist attraction.

The triumphal arch at Glanum.

The Glanum archaeological site.

There was a lot of information on the display panels around the site, covering interesting details of the town such as the hot baths (with heated walls!), the underfloor heating, and the water and sewage systems.  Glanum was the site of a sacred spring, one of the main reasons for its existence.

Exploring Glanum.

Pont du Gard

The Pont du Gard is a large three-level aqueduct spanning the Gardon river, built 2,000 years ago to carry water from a spring at Uzes to the city of Nimes.  It is the highest known Roman aqueduct, standing 48 metres high, and an awesome sight in person.  The water channel is about 1.2 m wide and 1.8 m high, and is covered over to keep the water cool and clean.  The most amazing aspect of the aqueduct is that it was just a small part of a 50 km long channel running all the way to Nimes, maintaining a fall of just 25 mm per kilometre to make the water flow.  It is estimated to have delivered about 40,000 cubic metres of water a day and was used for almost 600 years!

Looking up at the second and third levels of the bridge.

The attached roadway was built much later, in the 1700s.

Pont Julien

Pont Julien is a Roman road bridge, which was still carrying traffic up until 2005 when it was closed to preserve it.  It has since been incorporated into a cycling route.  It is not particularly large at 11 m high and 80 m long

Pont Julien.  The stream is quite small.

Pont Julien, showing damage from thieves stealing bronze pins!

Arles

We also visited Arles, which has its own surviving Roman arena, still used for performances today.  There is also a Roman theatre nearby.

Arles arena.

The Roman theatre in Arles.

The theatre was being set up for a performance as we went past.