Pont du Gard

Pont du Gard
Pont du Gard, photo: Edouard Baldus (ca. 1815-1882), 1850s
The Pont du Gard is a Roman aquaduct crossing the river Gardon near Nimes (south of France). It is recognized as unique illustration of the technique used by the engineers and builders of the Roman empire.

Year Decision Comments
1985 Inscribed Reasons for inscription

Reviews

Philip T.K. (Canada):
We visited this site in July 2008 from Avignon and the bus schedules has vastly changed. There are now over half a dozen buses a day leaving for the Pont du Gard so it is much more convenient for tourists. We took the 10:45 one there and took the 1:15 one back to Avignon, spending almost 2 hours (more than enough time for us) to view the site. It was worth the effort and best of all, it is free to enter.
Date posted: July 2008
Ian Cade (England):
It is quite impressive to see infrastructure on the World Heritage list, and this site is very deserving of its place on the list. The structure is absolutely massive and an astounding feat of engineering. It is 50 metres high and is part of the aqueduct that ran to Nimes over a distance of 50km. If you look closely you can see that the arches are not actually the same size but vary slightly.
The top tier has the aqueduct running along it. It is possible to have a guided tour of this. I did climb up the banks with the hope of seeing inside, but unfortunately you can only see a locked door and a staircase. It was worth the climb though, as the view was very impressive (picture).
You can walk across the bridge for free; well you actually walk on the 18th century one built next to the roman structure at the first level which mirrors it so you can’t see the difference from a distance. There are great views from the picnic area on the left bank and plenty of trails off around the area if you fancied a hike or cycle. If you want to go for a swim take an old pair of shoes as the water is very rocky and very cold; we found this out the hard way.
On practical matters, there is a brand new interpretive centre on the right bank. Busses will drop you off near here. There are 3 buses from Avignon (the most useful leaves at 12) and there are slightly more regular buses from Nimes (worth a visit). A WARNING though, there is a bus stop at the entrance to the car park but busses do not stop here or even go past!!! And the times displayed do not relate to the actual times of busses; it was only thanks to a helpful parking assistant that we didn’t get stranded.
This is an impressive site and makes a great day trip from any of the nearby cities. If you want to see how important this structure is have a look at the ‘fictional’ bridge on a €5 note and compare it to this one!
Date posted: October 2006
David Berlanda (Italy / Czech Republic):
In our trip to France we have seen the Roman Pont du Gard, a part of the aqueduct that brought water by a 50 km long canal to the castellum divisorium of Nîmes, in the Narbonnaise region, from a spring near Uzès. To achieve an average of 34 cm par one km it follows sinuous pats or traverses the rock layer with galleries or is elevated on to walls or arches or bridges. The Pont du Gard goes over the deep valley of the river Gardon; it was constructed in 19 for order of Agrippa. It’s 49 m high and has three storeys: the first (142 m long) has six 22 m high arches and was used in Medieval times like a bridge, the second 8142 m long) eleven 20 m high arches and the last (275 m long), where runs the canal, thirty-five 7 m high arches. There was also adaptations of the devastating course of the river and the lips on the piers, the curved layout of the aqueduct and the opening of the main lower arch are designed to resist to the floods. The acqueduct use at the two lower levels stone blocks, that can weight up to six tons, and at the upper levels small stone rubble which hold the abuting flagstones of the canal.
The acqueduct is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen because of its impresivenesse and its incredible technique of consctruction; it's absolutely worth to be visit - you must park 500 m from it. It justifies the inscription also as the nicest Roman acqueduct in the world, one of the few incribed on the WHL, and the best exression of Romans' technique, but I think that also other Roman monuments in Provence (like that in Nîmes or Saint-Rémy-de-Provence) could be inscibed alone or together with one, two or all of the WHS of Arles, Orange and Pont du Gard.
Photo: Pont du Gard - Aqueduct
Date posted: February 2006
Jose Gomes (Portugal):
A fine roman bridge, a huge aqueduct. It deserves a visit, and it is not so far from other important UNESCO's world heritage sites such as Avignon, Orange, etc.
Date posted: June 2005
Jim Humberd (USA):
Each time we have visited the Pont du Gard (Bridge over the Gard River), ten or twelve miles northeast of Nîmes, the weather has been sparkling clear, but rain or shine, it’s an awe-inspiring structure. The aqueduct was built without mortar between the stones (some weighted six tons), and we know engineering codes wouldn’t permit that these days. Of course it’s most likely that structures built under our engineering codes won’t last 2,000 years, either.

The first times we were here we were able to drive across the bridge with no problem, but on our fourth visit, police had blocked access to the road. The next morning, the police were gone, and we again drove across the Pont du Gard. Why is that so exciting, since we’ve done it a couple of times? Well, who else do you know who has done it even once?

From our book, Invitation To France (Google)
 


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