Visit the Pont du Gard

FREE ACCESS FOR WALKERS FROM THE CAMPSITE (2 minutes walking)

Informations and prices

History

The Pont du Gard is part of the famous Roman aqueduct remains, which was built under the emperor Claude, around 50 AD.

The aqueduct was built in order to answer the urban expansion of Nîmes (Nemausus), important city of the province, and its water requirements. The water was drawn from the spring of Eure in Uzès and poured in the conduits of the Castellum Divisarium (water tower) in Nîmes.

A technical challenge

The roman aqueduct adds up near 50km of sinuous plan, presenting several obstacles (valleys, pits, mountains) which were alternately filled or dug. The Pont du Gard, major component of the aqueduct, was so built to allow the pipe to cross the deep valley of the river Gardon.

Geology

The material used for the construction of the Pont du Gard comes from two quarries situated on the left bank of the work of engineering. Nowadays, it is still possible to contemplate these quarries by following the route of the Path of interpretation of the Pont du Gard stone.

Classified as World Heritage Monument by UNESCO

The aqueduct transported the water from Uzès to Nîmes during almost five centuries, till the beginning of the 6th century A.D

When no more water passed in the pipe of the aqueduct, the Pont du Gard was alternately plundered, indented, then renewed, with the construction of a road bridge attached to the bridge by the engineer Henri Pitot.

In 1914, the work of engineering was registered on the list or Historic Monuments, and it is on UNESCO World Heritage list since 1985. In 1996, the Site of the Pont du Gard was the object of a tourist development project which began in 2000.