05.07.07
Heading South Part II: Orange & Pont du Gard
Two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire occupied much of today’s France, reaching north as far a Lyon and leaving amphitheaters, temples, and an important aqueduct scattered throughout Provence. The city of Nîmes is particularly rich in Roman culture, which I had the chance to experience a few years ago working as an administrator for a study abroad program there. On our recent drive through Provence, we focused on two other Roman sites: the city of Orange, and the Pont du Gard aqueduct.
Founded in 35 B.C., Orange is today a pleasant little city with winding streets, colorful buildings, and a scattering of not-too-tacky souvenir shops. The main attraction is the gargantuan Roman theater, which still has it’s several-storey-high front wall lining the street. The theater and the triumphal arch are both UNESCO world heritage monuments.
The Pont du Gard is a bridge built in the first century C.E. as part of the aqueduct that carried water to Nîmes. It was used for several hundred years before being abandoned in the ninth century. Like many Roman ruins, some of the stones from the Pont du Gard were used by locals to build new structures, but the bridge nonetheless remains intact for the most part. We stopped here for a picnic lunch on the banks of the Gard River and in hot summer weather, it’s a great place for a swim.
megan said,
May 7, 2007 at 9:03 pm
You take such beautiful pictures!
rachel said,
May 8, 2007 at 9:31 am
Thanks, Megan! My sister took some of them, so I have to give her credit, too