Monday, July 09, 2007

ROMAN NIMES!

COLONIA NEMAUSUS - MAY 2005

NIMES

Nimes, located in the Languedoc-Roussillon Region, was a religious Celtic centre that was once annexed to Rome. Known then as Colonia Nemausus, was home to many veterans of the Roman legions that had served Julius Caesar in his Nile campaigns. Later enriched by Emperor August, Nimes was robbed by Vandals and Visigoths on the 5th century, and later occupied by Saracens until 737. The city was afterwards ruled by the Count of Toulouse in the 10th century, then by the French King from 1229. During the religion wars Nimes rested a Protestant stronghold, but was retaken by King Louis XIII in 1629. Nîmes is also known for its pants: Denim, the blue jeans brand, derives its name from the city (Serge de Nîmes). Its stones have seen much and have much to tell...



"THE ROMAN ARENA, dating back to the end of the 1st century AD, is a perfect construction, and illustrates the degree of perfection attained by Roman engineers in designing and constructing this type of building. Oval in shape, it measures 133m long, 101m wide and 21m high. The façade consists of two levels of sixty superposed arches. At the top, a huge canvas canopy could be attached to poles, providing protection for the spectators against the sun and bad weather... It is the best preserved Roman arena in France. During the Middle Age it was filled with housing, as its walls served as ramparts, but they were cleared under Napoleon. Nowadays, the ancient arena is open for business as a bullfighting ring and a concert area!"


"THE MAISON CARRÉ (Square House), a small Roman temple dedicated to sons of Agrippa, was built circa 19 BC by Marcus Agrippa, who was also the original patron of the Pantheon in Rome. It is one of the best preserved Roman temples in the world. The temple owes its preservation to the fact that it was rededicated as a Christian church in the fourth century. It subsequently became a meeting hall, a canon's house, a stable, a storehouse, and a museum after 1823"


"PLACE DE L'HORLOGE - Clock Tower, lively cafés, and pedestrian zone"


"CATHEDRAL, partly Romanesque and partly Gothic, is dedicated to Saint Castor of Apt and occupies the site of the temple of Augustus at the present Place aux Herbes"

***

TARASCON

Tarascon is located 23 km south of Avignon and 20 km north of Arles, on the left bank of the Rhône River. A mythological monster, the Tarasque, is said to have lived there at the beginning of the 1st century. The novel Tartarin de Tarascon (1872) and its two sequels Tartarin sur les Alpes (1885) and Port-Tarascon (1890), by Alphonse Daudet, were set here.


"CASTLE - The construction of the current castle started in 1401 by Louis II of Anjou, after the previous castle was destroyed. The construction was continued by Louis III, and was completed in 1449 by René I of Naples. Thus, the castle is often referred to as Le Château du Roi René"

24 comments:

Peter said...

Later this week I will see it with my own eyes!

Nîmes has normally the highest French daily summer temperatures. I hope this will also be true this week (I will stay some 20 km away); here in Paris I'm "freezing"!!

My first corrida (I'm not a fan, but it's worth trying) I saw in Nîmes in 68 with El Cordobés, Paco Camino...

Yes, Tarascon used to be the French border. No fees to pay to pass the bridge anymore!

As always, you visit "seriously". It's a pleasure to read your "reportages"!!!

Shionge said...

Hey I like the way Peter put it...visit 'seriously' :) We were in Italy ~ Rome, Florence, Venice among many other places during our honeymoon back in 1990 and this is very much on the list of countries we plan to visit.

I'll keep you posted and thank you for such a 'serious' detailed introduction :D

Cuckoo said...

Doesn't it give a feeling of Colosseum ? A very familiar look. Oh la la that reminds me to soon post on my Italy visit.

And I agree with Peter, your posts are so well nourished.

@Peter:You freezing in Paris in July ? What you do in winter months then ?

Aditi said...

Imagine sitting in the arena in today's date and watching a concert, I bet the ambience is fantastic..

Dsole said...

uoooh isn't it cool?
I really want to visit ROME very soon. I've seen very cheap flis to there, so maybe one weekend I'll get there!
I'm sorry for the delay, i was out of town, having a couple of free days and also have such a crazy days at work!
But I'm here again, thank you so much for your visits!

Annie said...

Thanks to you I know one more wonderful little piece of trivia. It might help me win the next game I play, knowing that denim is a name derived from Nimes.

Of course, you actually taught me much more than that. I've been to Roussillon but didn't see the larger area. I missed some incredible sights.

Neva said...

I love the information I get from you...truly why I love the Daily Photo home....thanks for stopping by..where I live is very peaceful compared to the bustle of downtown Chicago!

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

Till date all i knew about Nimes was that it gave the name to denim..now i can claim to have seen the place a little too....:)

lv2scpbk said...

I bet that's a wonderful place to see. It's amazing the things they built back then.

JaamZIN said...

the colosseum is really a great building. But its the reason they used for is scray!

indicaspecies said...

Hi Globetrotter..err, i mean Blogtrotter :)
You've got an informative and interesting blog.
I'll come back to read more of your wonderful trips!

Lori said...

This is so interesting. You could have a second career as a travel writer!! I must visit Nimes some day.

CaBaCuRl said...

O..so..you don't like cats then? ;)

Sally said...

I have areal soft spot for Nimes. I had a penfriend from there when I was a child. We lost touch, but I had the opportunity to visit Nimes a few years back. Lovely, lovely city, even if the time I was there is was stupefyingly hot and humid.

alice said...

You know France better than me! Thank you for these sunny pictures and for your regular visits to ArradonDP!

Dsole said...

aha.... I thought it was ROME... hahaha but now that I have more time to read I see I was wrong XD
It could be Rome no? ^^
Have a nice and sunny weekend!

isa said...

Oh, those pesky Vandals ;-)

We visited Nimes in late September - the weather was perfect, the crowds manageable, the sights fantastic! But I might've enjoyed it even more had I known the history of the area, as told by you...

travelphilippines said...

hi there thanks for droppin by my blog. too bad your experienced about the philippines was not that good because of the typhoon... i hope you go back once again...philippines would love to welcome u always and thi time no typhon hehe

julia said...

This history is soooo 'romantic'. My city only had its beginings in mid 1800s !! have fun today.

Anonymous said...

hi Trotta! it's been a long time since I last visited this site... whew, seems like you're not running out of amazing places to go to! France is terrific. How about Sarkozy? politics is my cup of tea, you know. ;)

Anonymous said...

oh my!! i had a fear of Roman Arena in childhood...
it must be really awesome to look at in real thoo(^o^);;
yeah u are the best travel writer in blogosphere!!
thanking u and have a lovely weekend!!

Anonymous said...

Peter,
Thanks once again for your regular visits and nice and interesting comments. You’re right about the temperatures in Nimes; that’s why I feel it would be a better season end of May or early June. Anyhow, anything seems to be better than the weird summer time in the north…
Paco Camino, Manuel Benitez (El Cordobés): that’s ages ago. I remember those legendary confrontations in the early sixties. We were much younger…
Enjoy your vacation. I’ll be posting on Provence for some time!

Shionge,
Thanks. I knew you had good taste. Italy is a great choice for the honeymoon. I also have some posts from our 1975 tour in Blogtrotter70&80s

Cuckoo,
You’re right: quite similar to the Colosseum, now one of the New7Wonders of the world. Deservedly!

Aditi,
It must be great to enjoy a concert there. I don’t have that experience, but I tell that an opera at the Arena in Verona is something unforgettable; the Aida, preferably...

Dsole,
Funny misunderstanding! It could be Rome, but only on a smaller size… I tell you dear: take a cheap flight, but a weekend is too short for Rome. The first time we went there we spent a whole week, and didn’t manage to see everything we wanted to…

Annie,
Thanks. Some trivia always help. I think everybody that has been around in Provence wishes to get back there. I’ll try…

Neva,
Thanks for your kind words. It’s amazing that I visited your blog now that our daughter is having a short holiday in Chicago, visiting friends...

Moi,
Glad to have helped!

Lv2,
Roman heritage is absolutely stunning!

Zsolt,
Basically it was used for entertainment, though that concept had some diversions when things degenerated… However, I don’t think it will be fair to blame the stadiums for the vandalism of the people...

Indicaspecies,
Celine (beautiful name), thanks. Hope to see you back soon!

Lori,
Thanks. I probably should retire and follow your suggestion...

Cabacurl,
Let’s put it this way: pets are not my favourites… but your hand made quilt was quite nice!

Sally,
You have to take great care on choosing the season to visit Nimes; otherwise you may burn there...

Alice,
Thanks for the compliment, though it’s surely not true that I "know" France...

Isabella,
Vandals, Goths (Visi, Ostro…), Saracens... pesky! ;))
I prefer late May, early June (days are longer), but late September is also a good season to visit Nimes!

Travelphilippines,
I’ll surely try to get back to Philippines one day!

Julia,
It’s the rule of life. Fortunately there are some new born towns for us to see and live!

Hi Racquel,
So pleased to see you back! Sarkozy/Kouchner? On verra…
I’m always impressed with your Morocco blog!

Niki-chan,
Thanks. Love your comments; always so kind! Enjoy your weekend!

Z said...

I enjoyed visiting Nimes with the help of your blog! I didn't know that demin originated there!

Thank you for your visits to Villigen.

Anonymous said...

Z,
Thanks. Love to see Villigen through your lens!