Arenes de Nimes

The amphitheatre of Nimes stands in the middle of modern traffic as if the Roman Empire had simply stepped out for lunch: built around the end of the 1st century AD, its oval of two stacked arcades - sixty arches per tier - once seated roughly twenty-four thousand spectators, and it survives today as one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres in the world. The visit climbs from the beast-and-gladiator underlevels to the top terraces, where the audio guide reconstructs the games below; the building never really retired, sheltering a fortified village in the Middle Ages and returning to service as a live arena that still hosts concerts and costumed Roman spectacles. Around it, Nimes keeps a whole Roman kit within strolling distance - the Maison Carree temple, UNESCO-listed in its own right, and the fountain gardens climbing to the Tour Magne.

History

The amphitheatre was built around 100 AD, only about twenty years after the Colosseum, 133 metres long and 101 metres wide with two storeys of 60 arcades, and it could seat 24,000 spectators on 34 tiers for gladiator fights and animal hunts. As the cities declined from the 3rd century, Nîmes shrank and from the 4th century the arcades were walled up and the amphitheatre became a fortress that withstood several sieges, sheltering a whole neighbourhood with its own churches of St Peter and St Martin; it lost its military role in the 14th century but remained a residential quarter, with 150 houses still inside it in the 18th century. Francis I had the first-floor gallery cleared, the houses were demolished from 1786, and the architect Henri Revoil completed the restoration in the mid-19th century; since 1853, when the first bullfight was held, it has again been used for shows (Wikipedia, Arena of Nîmes).

Highlights

• The double arcade - sixty arches on sixty, still carrying their terraces.
• The arena floor - the oval where the games ran, seen from the top rows.
• The underlevels - corridors and machinery spaces beneath the sand.
• The Roman city around it - Maison Carree and the fountain gardens nearby.

When to go

Spring and early autumn give the stone-terrace climb kind temperatures; summer works early in the day. Event days close parts of the monument to visits - check the calendar before travelling for the interior.

What to expect

The terraces are steep, worn and railing-light in places - decent shoes matter, and summer afternoons turn the stone into a griddle. Concert setups can leave scaffolding and seating rigs in your photographs. The combined ticket with the Maison Carree and Tour Magne is the sensible buy.

Nearby

The Maison Carree, the Jardins de la Fontaine and the Pont du Gard half an hour away.

Key facts