Town Plan No. 21.—Nîmes.
In its modern aspect Nîmes is a thriving city with a busy trade in wine and silk. The main streets are wide and cheerful, with trees which are a boon during the hot time of the year.
The chief features of the town are:
1. The Roman Amphitheatre.—It is smaller than those of Arles, Capua, Verona, and Rome, but is the best preserved in the whole world. It was built in the first century, and the enormous stones are so perfectly cut that, although laid without cement, they have not been disturbed throughout the 1,800 years of change that have passed since the building of the arena. The seats allowed about 22,000 people to watch the gladiatorial and other contests that took place. The arrangements for flooding the arena for aquatic displays are said by some authorities to be discoverable. At the present time bull-fights take place in the arena on Sundays from April onwards throughout the summer, and the less dangerous Courses Libres, when anyone can attempt to obtain a rosette from the bull’s head, are frequently given.
2. The Maison Carrée is a Roman temple, built between A.D. 1 and 14, and dedicated to Caius and Lucius Cæsar, adopted sons of the Emperor Augustus. It is the best-preserved Roman temple in the world, and after having been used as a church, a municipal hall, and a stable, it is now well restored, and contains a very fine collection of Roman remains.
3. The Porte d’Auguste bears an inscription stating that it was built in 16. B.C. It was a gateway of the Roman line of fortifications which surrounded the city.
4. The Porte de France, another Roman gateway, of much more simple character, stands at the end of the Rue de France.
5. The Roman Baths and thermæ in the Jardin de la Fontaine, on the north side of the town, with, above them, the Tour Magne, a Roman tower, 90 feet in height, which formed a part of the defences of the city, and was utilized as a watch-tower in the Middle Ages.
6. The Cathedral of St. Castor, dating from about the eleventh century, has been reconstructed and restored so much that the western façade is the chief survival of the original church. Its richly carved frieze, showing scenes from the Book of Genesis, is of great interest.