After talking about 2 important Roman buildings, Arènes de Nîmes and Maison Carrée, today I take you on a walk through Nîmes. It is a lovely city with great transport links. Nîmes could be a great “base” for day trips to nearby cities, such as Avignon, Montpellier, and Marseille. I would like to go to Nîmes again as there are a few things to see that I missed.
This is a pedestrian area from the train station towards the Roman arena. There are some cafes open during day time, a lot of restaurants.
My husband commented on these art decorations. He said that these look like the camouflage netting we did while we were in Lviv, Ukraine. He was right. It was sad to think of that. That the same techniques can either be used to protect the military or to create beautiful outdoor art.
This is the gorgeous Musée de la Romanité, seen from the arena. The tables on the right are from the museum’s cafe.
Our joint ticket included the visit to the Musée de la Romanité, besides the Roman buildings. So, we visited the museum. It is a big museum with plenty of artefacts, which are very interestingly presented. I highly recommend visiting this museum too, if you are going to Nîmes. I will share a few highlights from it. With a few floors, to see the whole museum I would recommend allowing 2 hours if not a bit more.
This male bust is Roman and a reproduction of it is displayed on the left, for people to be able to interact with it. It dates to the 6th or 7th century BCE. Below is a decorated wall which was excavated in a nearby villa in the early 1990s. The villa was built between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE. This fresco was made in the 30-40 BCE. There are a few more frescos from that villa in the museum and they are a wonder to see.
Models of the Roman structures, at scale, were nice to see. Near is the Arènes de Nîmes, with the Colosseum in Rome in the back. On the near left is another Roman structure, Tour Magne. We had tickets for it, but didn’t have the time. It is a 18 m stone watchtower, originally part of the Roman city wall.
Pont du Gard is on the left, in the back. I wanted to see it, but the transport links were not great. So, next time we might rent a car to see these spots which are more difficult to access without a car. Pont du Gard was opened in 60 CE and it was one of the most impressive pieces of Roman engineering still up. Its length is 275 m! Just compare it to the arenas for size.
Mosaics are one of the things I love the most in Roman museums. This is so beautiful. There was a clip on how mosaics were made, which was interesting to see as well.
Rooftop garden on top of the museum is just lovely to see. There is a restaurant too, on the same level. We had lunch just before visiting the museum, so we skipped it.
Doggy park with a very appropriate mosaic sign.
I don’t know the name of this church, I passed by and took a photo. There was a lady with her huge Mastiff dog relaxing in the fountain in front of it and I spent a minute or two looking at the dog having the time of his life. He was a joy to watch.
Drinks near the Arènes de Nîmes should be a must for anyone staying there overnight.
The Roman Museum would be my favorite thing to visit. I love those scale models and, of course, all the mosaics. That sign at the dog park reminds me of a tiny dog I bought in the gift shop at the Roman Baths in Bath, England.
That museum was great. It was very big and filled with artefacts. The architecture of the building was great as well.
The dog mosaic was fun. I can’t remember seeing something similar in Bath, but I’ve visited Bath such a long time ago. I should go there again soon.