Pont du Gard
— One of the world's finest remaining examples of Roman engineering and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”
This wasn’t our first visit to the Pont du Gard, one of the world’s finest remaining examples of Roman engineering. We came here during a short holiday in 2007 in similar, baking temperatures. Finding ourselves at a loose end and in the area, I wanted to come back and get a few more photos.
The aqueduct was built in the middle of the first century AD to swell the hard-pressed wells of Nemausus (Nîmes). The stone blocks of which it consists are sometimes huge and so accurately cut as to negate the use of mortar.
At the time of writing and unlike most other UNESCO World Heritage Sites, here there’s a cost. You’re actually paying for the facilities rather than the Pont du Gard, but at €15 per vehicle per day, a flying visit offers less value than taking along a picnic.
See also:
Something to do with Lotharingia
Following the Maas-Meuse into the old kingdom of Charlemagne.
- Originally published: 24 Aug 2008 in Europe
Toledo
Half an hour or so by train from Madrid’s Atocha station, Toledo is readily accessible to visitors yet remains happily aloof from overdevelopment.
Lisbon
Like the explorers in their carracks and caravels, Lisbon’s status as hub of the whole world has long since set sail, but there’s still much to discover here.
- Originally published: 13 Jun 2011 in Europe
Köln and Bonn
Thirtieth birthday treat: a weekend by train to two German cities and a marvellous art exhibition.
- Originally published: 30 Jun 2009 in Europe
Pergamonmuseum
When all the world was brought to Berlin.
- Originally published: 30 Mar 2009 in Museums & Galleries
Stop ACTA!
A privately-negotiated international trade agreement that's anti-sharing, anti-privacy and anti-democratic.
Let's put a stop to ACTA.
Who you gonna call?
Hello, you. I'm Mike Padgett. I'm not a Princeton curator, Knoxville mayoral candidate, Kentuckian pastor or Arizona journalist, I just share the same name as those guys. I'm a user experience consultant, expatriate, traveller, writer and pro cycling enthusiast.
I'm originally from Yorkshire, England but nowadays I live in Belgium. My current favourite Belgian beer is Black Albert. I started my website in 2005 and I've been running it ever since.
Shameless self-promotion
Over a year in the making, Dopeology.org is my latest personal project: a topology of doping in thirty years of European pro road cycling.
I collected information from thousands of sources, then I modelled and published it via a lightweight user interface.
Comments
No responses yet to Pont du Gard
Why not give me your comments?