Nîmes: Difference between revisions

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Dubbed the most Roman city outside Italy,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/languedoc-roussillon/articles/nimes-musee-de-la-romanite/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/languedoc-roussillon/articles/nimes-musee-de-la-romanite/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Nîmes, the most Roman city outside Italy, just got more Roman |work=The Telegraph |access-date=2018-07-30}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Nîmes has a rich history dating back to the [[Roman Empire]] when the city had a population of 50,000–60,000 and was the regional capital.<ref name="Sear1983">{{cite book |author=Frank Sear |title=Roman Architecture |url=https://archive.org/details/romanarchitectur0000sear |url-access=registration |year=1983 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=0-8014-9245-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/romanarchitectur0000sear/page/213 213]}}</ref><ref name="RingWatson2013">{{cite book |author1=Trudy Ring |author2=Noelle Watson |author3=Paul Schellinger |title=Northern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uWjYAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT853 |date=28 October 2013 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-136-63951-7 |page=853 |access-date=7 November 2015 |archive-date=16 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230916120525/https://books.google.com/books?id=uWjYAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT853 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://conservationengineers.org/conferences/2013presentations/Tuesday_Nimes_Aqueduct_GMihalevich.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=19 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326105238/http://conservationengineers.org/conferences/2013presentations/Tuesday_Nimes_Aqueduct_GMihalevich.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="MobileReference2007">{{cite book |author=MobileReference |title=Travel Barcelona, Spain for Smartphones and Mobile Devices – City Guide, Phrasebook, and Maps |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KH3MnM_v0_gC&pg=PT428 |date=1 January 2007 |publisher=MobileReference |isbn=978-1-60501-059-5 |page=428}}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Several famous monuments are in Nîmes, such as the [[Arena of Nîmes]] and the [[Maison Carrée]]. Because of this, Nîmes is often referred to as the "French [[Rome]]".

Nîmes became a Roman colony as ''Colonia Nemausus'' sometime before 28 BCE, as witnessed by the earliest coins, which bear the abbreviation <small>NEM. COL</small>, "Colony of Nemausus".<ref>Colin M. Kraay, "The Chronology of the coinage of Colonia Nemausus", ''Numismatic Chronicle'' '''15''' (1955), pp. 75–87.</ref> Veterans of Julius Caesar's legions in his Nile campaigns were given plots of land to cultivate on the plain of Nîmes.<ref>Alain Veyrac, "Le symbolisme de l'as de Nîmes au crocodile" ''Archéologie et histoire romaine'' vol. 1 (1998) ([http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/dha_0755-7256_2000_num_26_2_2560 on-line text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405014021/http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/dha_0755-7256_2000_num_26_2_2560 |date=5 April 2010 }}).</ref>

 

 

The great [[Nimes Aqueduct]], many of whose remains can be seen today outside of the city, was built to bring water from the hills to the north. Where it crossed the river [[Gardon|Gard]] between [[Uzès]] and [[Remoulins]], the spectacular [[Pont du Gard]] was built. This is {{cvt|20|km|0}} north east of the city.

Following a European economic crisis that hit Nîmes with full force, the [[French Revolution|Revolutionary period]] awoke the slumbering demons of political and religious antagonism. The [[Second White Terror|White Terror]] added to natural calamities and economic recession, produced murder, pillage and arson until 1815. Order was however restored in the course of the century, and Nîmes became the metropolis of Bas-Languedoc, diversifying its industry into new kinds of activity. At the same time the surrounding countryside adapted to market needs and shared in the general increase of wealth.

 

 

The [[2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (France)|2e Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie (2ºREI)]], the main motorised infantry regiment of the Foreign Legion, has been garrisoned in Nîmes since November 1983.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://2rei.legion-etrangere.com/mdl/info_seul.php?id=143&idA=28&block=15&idA_SM=0&titre=historique-du-2e-rei |title=Official Website of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment, Historique du 2 REI, La Creation (Creation) |access-date=17 May 2018 |archive-date=30 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630212436/http://2rei.legion-etrangere.com/mdl/info_seul.php?id=143&idA=28&block=15&idA_SM=0&titre=historique-du-2e-rei |url-status=dead}}</ref>

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[[File:Nimes-TourMagne.JPG|thumb|left|Tour Magne.]]

[[File:NimesJardins.jpg|thumb|left|The ''Jardins de la Fontaine''.]]

Several important remains of the [[Roman Empire]] can still be seen in and around Nîmes:

 

*The nearby Mont Cavalier is crowned by the ''Tour Magne'' ("Great Tower"), a ruined Roman tower.<ref>Giving rise to the example of ''[[rime richissime]]'' ''Gall, amant de la Reine, alla (tour magnanime)/ Gallament de l'Arène a la Tour Magne, à Nîmes'', or "Gall, lover of the Queen, passed (magnanimous gesture), gallantly from the Arena to the Tour Magne at Nîmes".</ref>

*The castellum divisorium, a rare vestige of a Roman water inlet system.

 

Later monuments include: