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Gardens and Tour Magne

Canals, 18th century terraces and the view from Mont Cavalier.

Distance
3.7 km
Walking
53 min on foot
With visits
about 3 h 15
Stops
6
Avenue Jean-Jaurès1Quai de la Fontaine2Jardins de la Fontaine3Temple of Diana4Tour Magne5Castellum aquae6
Map : © OpenStreetMap contributors, tuiles OpenFreeMap

Stops

  1. Avenue Jean-Jaurès

    Here you are on avenue Jean-Jaurès, which the people of Nîmes often call les allées Jaurès. It is the longest avenue in the city: it stretches for more than one and a half kilometres, and is about 60 metres wide. In the south, it starts from the Forum-Camargue buildings; in the north, it ends at the gates of the Jardins de la Fontaine.

    1.6 km to the next stop

  2. Quai de la Fontaine

    You are on the quai de la Fontaine, alongside the canal that flows from the Jardins de la Fontaine. It all began in 1738: the city wanted to improve its water supply and decided, on 19 July, to have the basin of the spring dug out and cleaned. The works, directed from 1739 by the engineer Jean de Clapiès, uncovered major Roman remains: a sanctuary dedicated to Augustus, a portico around a pool, and a theatre.

    530 m to the next stop

  3. Jardins de la Fontaine

    Here you are in the Jardins de la Fontaine, around the spring that gave birth to Nîmes. This karst spring drew inhabitants as early as the Iron Age, in the sixth century BC. In Roman times, a great sanctuary, the Augusteum, occupied the site; the Temple of Diana is a still visible remnant of it.

    320 m to the next stop

  4. Temple of Diana

    Here you are in front of the Temple of Diana, in the Jardins de la Fontaine. Despite its name, nothing proves that this building was dedicated to Diana: the name has no known archaeological or historical basis. Built in the first century AD, it was part of a sanctuary dedicated to Augustus.

    460 m to the next stop

  5. Tour Magne

    Here you are in front of the Tour Magne, at the top of Mont Cavalier. It is the most imposing remnant of the very long Roman wall of Nîmes. But its story begins before Rome: in the third century BC, a pre-Roman tower 18 metres high already stood here.

    730 m to the next stop

  6. Castellum aquae

    Here you are in front of the castellum aquae, on rue de la Lampèze. This is where the water of the Roman aqueduct of Nîmes arrived, after a journey of around 50 kilometres from the Eure spring, across bridges and through tunnels, including the famous Pont du Gard. This water tower was not used to store water but to distribute it.