Nîmes
Administrative centre of Gard département, in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France, 100 km/62 mi northwest of Marseille; population (1999) 133,400. Its Roman remains include an amphitheatre dating from the 2nd century and the nearby aqueduct known as the Pont du Gard. The city gives its name to the cloth known as denim (de Nîmes).
Commerce Silks, carpets, footwear, brandy, and machinery are manufactured, and there is a trade in wine, grain, and other foodstuffs. Nearby is Perrier, the source of a popular mineral water. |
Features The amphitheatre was converted into a fortress in the Middle Ages. Other Roman remains include a temple in the style of the Parthenon; the temple of Diana; an ancient tower 28 m/92 ft high; two Roman gates; and the aqueduct of the Pont du Gard. Nîmes is the seat of a bishopric and was the birthplace of the writer Alphonse Daudet (1840). |
History Formerly known as Nismes, it was originally a La Tène stronghold, laid out with walls enclosing about 2.2 sq km/0.9 sq mi in 16 BC, but ruined in the barbarian invasions. In the 16th century its growing industrial prosperity suffered from the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. |
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