Nîmes is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Cévennes mountain range, the estimated population of the commune of Nîmes stood at 148,561 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 30 Gard , INSEE
Dubbed "the most Roman city outside Italy", Nîmes has a rich history dating back to the Roman Empire when the city's population was estimated at approximately 50,000–60,000. Since several famous monuments and ancient Roman buildings are located in Nîmes, including the Arena of Nîmes and the Maison Carrée, the city is often referred to as the "French Rome".
Origins
Nîmes is situated where the alluvial plain of the Vistrenque River abuts the hills of Mont Duplan to the northeast, Montaury to the southwest, and to the west Mt. Cavalier and the knoll of Canteduc.
The ancient name Nemausus appears in Gaulish inscriptions as dede matrebo Namausikabo ("he has given to the mothers of Nîmes") and toutios Namausatis ("citizen of Nîmes").Dupraz, Emmanuel. "Commémorations cultuelles gallo-grecques chez les Volques Arécomiques". In: Etudes Celtiques, vol. 44, 2018. pp. 36-38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/ecelt.2018.2180 ; www.persee.fr/doc/ecelt_0373-1928_2018_num_44_1_2180 The god Nemausus who shares his name with the city is found also in Latin inscriptions located in the territory of the Volcae Arecomici around Nîmes.A. L. F. Rivet, Gallia Narbonensis: Southern France in Roman Times (Batsford, 1988), pp. 23, 162ff.
History
4000–2000 BCE The Neolithic site of Serre Paradis reveals the presence of semi-nomadic cultivators in the period 4000 to 3500 BCE on the site of Nîmes.Perrin, T., Manen, C., & Séjalon, P. (eds.). Le Néolithique ancien de la plaine de Nîmes (Gard, France). Archives d’Écologie Préhistorique, 2014.
The menhir of Courbessac (or La Poudrière) stands in a field, near the aerodrome. This limestone monolith of over in height dates to approximately 2500 BCE, and is considered the oldest monument in Nîmes.
1800–600 BCE The Bronze Age has left traces of villages that were made out of huts and branches. The population of the site increased during the Bronze Age.
600–121 BCE
The hill of Mt. Cavalier was the site of the early oppidum, which gave birth to the city. During the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, a surrounding wall was built with a dry-stone tower at the summit, which was later incorporated into the Tour Magne.
The Greek geographer, Strabo, mentioned that this town functioned as the regional capital for the Volcae Arecomici, a Celtic people. The city adopted the name of a local water deity, Nemausus. The town had a healing spring.
The Warrior of Grezan is considered to be the most ancient indigenous sculpture in southern Gaul.
In 123 BCE, the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus launched a campaign against Gallic tribes in the area, eventually defeating the Allobroges and the Arverni, while the Volcae offered no resistance. The Roman province Gallia Transalpina ("Gaul across the Alps") was established in 121 BCE, and from 118 BCE, the Via Domitia was constructed through the later site of the city.
Roman period
The city arose on the important Via Domitia which connected Italy with Hispania.
Nîmes became a Roman colony as Colonia Nemausus sometime before 28 BCE, as witnessed by the earliest coins, which bear the abbreviation NEM. COL. Veterans of Julius Caesar's legions in his Nile campaigns were given plots of land to cultivate on the plain of Nîmes.
Augustus launched a major construction program in the city, as elsewhere throughout the Roman empire. Additionally, he ordered the construction of a long ring of ramparts in the city, reinforced by 14 towers; two gates remain today: the Porte d'Auguste, and the Porte de France. Internally, the city was organized around the cardo and decumanus, intersecting at the forum. The Maison Carrée ("Square House"), an exceptionally well-preserved temple dating from the late 1st century BCE, stands as one of the finest surviving examples of Roman temple architecture. Dedicated to Roma and Augustus, it bears a striking resemblance to Rome's Temple of Portunus, blending Etruscan and Greek design influences.
The Nîmes Aqueduct, many of whose remains can be seen today outside of the city, was built to bring water from the hills to the north. Where it crossed the river Gard between Uzès and Remoulins, the Pont du Gard was built. This is northeast of the city.
The museum accommodates numerous fine objects discovered during excavations in the city and its surrounding area, including mosaic floors, frescoes and sculpture from wealthy houses and other buildings. Furthermore, it is known that the town had a civil basilica, a curia, a gymnasium, and perhaps a circus. The amphitheatre is very well preserved, dates from the end of the 2nd century, and was one of the largest amphitheatres in the Empire. The so-called Temple of Diana, dating from Augustus and rebuilt in the 2nd century, was actually not a temple but was centred on a nymphaeum located within the Fontaine Sanctuary dedicated to Augustus and may have actually served as a library.
The city was the birthplace of the family of Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161).
Emperor Constantine (306-337) endowed the city with baths.
It became the seat of the Diocesan Vicar, the chief administrative officer of southern Gaul.
The town was prosperous until the end of the 3rd century, when successive barbarian invasions slowed its development. During the 4th and 5th centuries, the nearby town of Arles enjoyed more prosperity. In the early 5th century, the Praetorian Prefecture was moved from Trier in northeast Gaul to Arles.
The Visigoths captured the city in 472.
4th–13th centuries
When the Visigoths were accepted into the Roman Empire, Nîmes was included in their territory in 472, even after the Frankish victory at the Battle of Vouillé (507). The urban landscape went through transformation with the Goths, but much of the heritage of the Roman era remained largely intact.
By 725, the Muslim Umayyads had conquered the whole Visigothic territory of Septimania including Nîmes. In 736–737, Charles Martel and his brother led an expedition to Septimania and Provence, and largely destroyed the city (in the hands of Umayyads allied with the local Gallo-Roman and Gothic nobility), including the amphitheatre, thereafter heading back north. The Muslim government came to an end in 752, when Pepin the Short captured the city. In 754, an uprising took place against the Carolingian king, but was put down, and count Radulf, a Frank, appointed as master of the city. After the events connected with the war, Nîmes was now only a shadow of the opulent Roman city it had once been. The local authorities installed themselves in the remains of the amphitheatre.
Excavations in Nîmes have revealed three medieval graves that represent the earliest archaeological evidence of a Muslim presence in France. Multidisciplinary analyses, including anthropological and palaeogenomic studies of the remains, indicate that the burials followed Islamic rites and date to between 720 and 752 AD.
In the 7th century, the Jewish community in Nîmes grew significantly after Count Hildéric welcomed Jewish families fleeing persecution during the Visigothic period in Spain. This established a long-standing Jewish presence in the city, which later led to the establishment of the first documented synagogue in 1089, located in the heart of the medieval Jewish quarter.
Carolingian rule brought relative peace, but feudal times in the 12th century brought local troubles, which lasted until the days of St. Louis. During that period Nîmes was jointly administered by a bishop, as well as by a civil authority headquartered in the old amphitheater, where lived the Viguier ("Magistrate"), as well as the Viguier's retainers, the Knights of the Arena. Meanwhile the city was represented by four Consuls, whose offices were located in the old Maison Carrée.
Despite incessant squabbling between competing feudal lords, Nîmes saw some progress both in commerce and industry as well as in stock-breeding and associated activities. After the last effort by Raymond VII of Toulouse, St. Louis managed to establish royal power in the region which became Languedoc. Nîmes thus finally came into the hands of the King of France.
Period of invasions
During the 14th and 15th centuries the Rhône Valley underwent an uninterrupted series of invasions which ruined the economy and caused famine. Customs were forgotten, religious troubles developed (see French Wars of Religion) and epidemics affected the city. Nîmes, which was one of the Protestant strongholds, felt the full force of repression and fratricidal confrontations (including the Michelade massacre) which continued until the middle of the 17th century, adding to the misery of periodic outbreaks of plague.
17th century to the French Revolution
In the middle of the 17th century Nîmes experienced a period of prosperity. Population growth caused the town to expand, and slum housing to be replaced. To this period also belong the reconstruction of Notre-Dame-Saint-Castor, the Bishop's palace and numerous mansions (hôtels). This renaissance strengthened the manufacturing and industrial potential of the city, the population rising from 21,000 to 50,000 inhabitants.
In this same period the Fountain gardens, the Quais de la Fontaine, were laid out, the areas surrounding the Maison Carrée and the Amphitheatre were cleared of encroachments, whilst the entire population benefited from the atmosphere of prosperity.
In 1793, Jewish textile merchants who had migrated from Carpentras established a new synagogue, modeling its design after the distinctive synagogues of the Comtat Venaissin. This building has remained the religious and cultural center for the Jewish community of the Gard department to this day.
Nîmes is renowned for the creation of serge de Nîmes, the twill-woven fabric that would later become known globally as denim. This textile innovation later served as the basis for the development of modern blue jeans, patented in 1873 by Jewish-American entrepreneur Levi Strauss.
From the French Revolution to the present Following a European economic crisis that hit Nîmes with full force, the Revolutionary period awoke the slumbering demons of political and religious antagonism. The White Terror added to natural calamities and economic recession, produced murder, pillage and arson until 1815. Order was however restored in the course of the century, and Nîmes became the metropolis of Bas-Languedoc, diversifying its industry into new kinds of activity. At the same time the surrounding countryside adapted to market needs and shared in the general increase of wealth.
During the Second World War, Wehrmacht troops occupied Vichy France in November 1942. On 22 April 1943, Wehrmacht soldiers executed the Maquis resistance fighters Jean Robert and Vinicio Faïta at Nîmes.
On 27 May 1944, bombers of the USAAF bombed the Nîmes marshalling yards. It was one of the preparations for Operation Dragoon (landing operation in the Rhône delta) that started on 15 August 1944.
The 2e Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie (2ºREI), the main motorised infantry regiment of the French Foreign Legion, has been garrisoned in Nîmes since November 1983.
Archaeology In April 2024, a collection of glassware dating back to the Roman period was discovered in Nîmes. The collection includes strigils, ornate glass vases, ceramics, a glass paste cup, lamps, fragments of funerary monuments, and amphorae.
Geography
Climate