The most visited ancient monument in France, listed a world heritage site by Unesco, the Pont du Gard aqueduct remains one of humankind's great masterpieces. A marvel of Antiquity and a true technical feat, it is also a stupendous site that has regained its unspoiled state since its refurbishment.
We had lunch at Restaurant Les Terrassesat at Pont du Gard and spent about an hour touring the Pont du Gard.
Pont du Gard
Pont du Gard is an impressive ancient Roman aqueduct that served as the main component of the 50km-long canal that carried water between the spring at Uzès to the Roman colony of Nemausus (Nîmes). Created 2000 years ago in the 1st century AD, this aqueduct to this day remains the highest elevated Roman aqueduct of all time, and together with Aqueduct of Segovia one that was best preserved.
Built over the period of just around 15 years in 50AD using 30 million shelly limestones, Pont du Gard aqueduct has the form of three arched bridges placed one atop of other. The top of the bridge features water-carrying channel with a constant gradient of just 2.5cm from one side of the bridge to another. The Roman architects had access to very impressive construction techniques, which enabled them not only to create this 50-kilometer Nîmes aqueduct network in short period but also to have it loose only 17 meters in height over its entire structure that passes via underground passages and through numerous mountains. The overall gradient of the entire Nîmes aqueduct network is just 1 in 18,241, which is much lower than many other Roman aqueducts.
Pont du Gard today stands 48 meters (160 feet) tall and 275-meter-long, but in its original state, it was much longer at 360 meters (1,180 feet). Its three-tiered arched design was revolutionary for its time, managing to span Gardon river below it with a central arch that is 24.5m wide, a record for any structure that was built in 1st century AD. The entire construction featured 64 spans (6 in the lowest section, 11 in mid and 47 in highest), although the top section is today missing 12 of the arches.
The aqueduct was in use between 1st to 4th century AD, with some part of the network remaining operational even to the 6th century. By that point entire structure fell into disuse, and natural clogging and lack of maintenance caused a buildup of natural material that blocked the flow of water. Instead of falling to ruin like the majority of the original Nîmes aqueduct network, Pont du Gard managed to survive due to its ability to be used as a pedestrian bridge. Local lords and bishops were required to preserve the bridge in the operational state, collecting tolls and keeping this structure in the good state.
By 17th century bridge was still operational, but some of its stones were damaged, missing or were looted. By the 18th century, this historic aqueduct started gaining more and more attention from both the local governments and the international community, and it eventually became a popular tourist landmark. After the 18th century, several organized efforts by the French state and local authorities led to restoration and preservation of the Pont du Gard bridge structure. In 2000, Pont du Gard was finally fully transferred into a site of historic heritage, transferring pedestrian traffic from it and into a nearby visitor’s center. The aqueduct and the scenic area immediately surrounding Pont du Gard are protected by French “Monument Historique” (1840), French law (1930) and as UNESCO World Heritage Site (1985), where it was described as a mark of masterpiece of human creation, in the same way as Taj Mahal and Great Wall of China.
Lunch at Restaurant Les Terrasses at Pont du Gard
The Restaurant Les Terrasses is perhaps 100 meters from the Pont du Gard.We had a lovely lunch there, with a view of the Pont du Gard.
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