Nîmes

Nîmes - Festival City

The town of Nîmes in southern France can be reached by the A9 motorway from Lyons, by the TGV high-speed rail link or by air from Paris.

Nîmes is well known to travellers and art historians because of its well-preserved buildings of the antiquity. It is often referred to as the French Rome and it is still possible to visit a Roman amphitheatre, a temple dedicated to the adopted sons of the Roman Emperor Augustus and remains of the old town wall. In the old part of the town, a conservation area, you can quite easily combine sightseeing and shopping. The varied and lively cityscape includes patricians’ houses, historical buildings and old residential buildings now housing a variety of boutiques, shops, cafés and restaurants.

Museums, libraries, theatre, various concerts, as well as sporting events fill up the cultural calendar over the year. Festivals are second nature in this half-Roman and half-Andalusian town in southern France. Firstly, there are the ferias which, in the Spanish tradition, are for everyone, with bull fights and, above all, with a great deal of music and improvised events on the streets. The most important festival in Nîmes is the annual Witsun Feria.

The Roman amphitheatre built in Nîmes at the end of the first century AD is the most well-preserved one of its kind. Thanks to the roof, which is removed in summer, a variety of sports and cultural events can be held in the amphitheatre, which has a seating capacity of 20,000, throughout the year.

Built at the end of the first century AD, the Pont du Gard is the centrepiece of a 50 km long Roman aqueduct which supplied Nîmes with spring water. The Pont du Gard is 48 m high and 275 m long.

Tourism is very important for Nimes’ economy. With its festivals, its enormous range of sporting activities and its sights, Nîmes has something to offer everyone in the way of unforgettable impressions. The proximity to the Mediterranean Sea with its fine white sandy beaches, the largest yacht harbour in Europe only 30 kilometres away and the nearby wooded mountain range of the Cevennes attract uncountable tourists throughout the year.

Nîmes used to be a centre of the textile industry, as the manufacturer of laundry and drapery still are reminded it. The well-known Perrier mineral water brand comes from a spring near the town and is also bottled nearby. Nîmes is surrounded by vineyards and fields where vegetables and fruits are cultivated, providing the basis of the livelihoods of winemakers and the manufacturers of preserves. Nîmes is also a university town with 3,000 students reading medicine, law, mathematics, computer science, economics, languages or art. The town has 300 sunny days a year so why not come and discover it for yourself.

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