Pont du Gard

About this place

The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge crossing the Gardon river near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard in southern France, about 22 km west of Avignon and 19 km northeast of Nîmes in a straight line. It was built in the 1st century AD as part of an aqueduct about 50 km long carrying water to the Roman colony of Nemausus, today's Nîmes. It is one of the best-preserved Roman aqueduct bridges and was added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1985. The aqueduct carried an estimated 40,000 cubic metres of water a day to the city's fountains, baths and homes, with a remarkably precise gradient along its length. The bridge stands 48.8 metres high in three tiers of golden limestone arches, largest at the bottom and smallest at the top, above clear green water between rocky banks and woods. In the morning and evening it glows honey-coloured. Visitors cross the bridge on the roadway beside it, walk the riverbanks and swim in the river in summer. The site has a museum about the aqueduct and paid car parks, and pairs well with Nîmes and Avignon.