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Nîmes in 1 hour

The Arena, the Maison Carrée and the heart of the Écusson, seen from outside, on foot.

Distance
1.8 km
Walking
25 min on foot
With visits
about 1 h
Stops
6
Nîmes Arena1Maison Carrée2Carré d'Art3Place de l’Horloge4Place du Marché5Nîmes Cathedral6
Map : © OpenStreetMap contributors, tuiles OpenFreeMap

Stops

  1. Nîmes Arena

    Here you are in front of the Nîmes Arena, a Roman amphitheatre built around 90 AD, probably during the reign of Domitian. The ellipse measures about 133 metres by 101, and stands 21 metres high. The façade lines up 60 arches on each of its two levels.

    720 m to the next stop

  2. Maison Carrée

    Here you are in front of the Maison Carrée, a Roman temple built during the reign of Augustus and completed around the years 2 and 3 AD. It is one of the best preserved Roman temples. It was dedicated to Gaius and Lucius Caesar, the adopted sons of Augustus, known as the princes of youth.

    110 m to the next stop

  3. Carré d’Art

    Here you are in front of the Carré d’Art, facing the Maison Carrée. This building of glass, concrete and steel is the work of the British architect Norman Foster. He won the 1984 international competition against rivals such as Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Arata Isozaki and César Pelli.

    260 m to the next stop

  4. Place de l’Horloge

    You are on the place de l’Horloge, in the heart of the Écusson. The tower in front of you is 31 metres high. It was rebuilt from 1752 to 1754, on the site of an older fifteenth-century belfry: so a clock has set the rhythm of life in this district for about five centuries.

    330 m to the next stop

  5. Place du Marché

    You are on the place du Marché, a small square in the Écusson lined with café terraces. In the centre, the fountain features the crocodile, the emblem of Nîmes. Its origin goes back to antiquity: after the battle of Actium, in 31 BC, coins struck to celebrate Octavian’s victory showed a crocodile chained to a palm, a symbol of Egypt conquered by Rome.

    340 m to the next stop

  6. Nîmes Cathedral

    You are on the place aux Herbes, in front of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Castor, seat of the diocese of Nîmes, Uzès and Alès. In the Middle Ages, this square was the economic and religious heart of the city. The Romanesque church was consecrated in 1096 by Pope Urban the Second.