"Roman Holiday" in Nimes -- One of the Most Beautiful Canals in the World

The beautiful Jardin de la Fontaine has been a popular destination in Nimes for nearly three centuries. The original Spring of Nemo built by the Romans supplied water for the city. In the 1700s as the growing city needed a better source of safe drinking water, a network of canals was constructed. It was built just after the gardens in Versailles were built for Louis XIV, and it was the first garden created for the general public and not just the monarchy.

The booming textile industry also benefited from the canal system by providing water for a new product called denim, (from the French "de" meaning "from" Nimes) which eventually became material for blue jeans. Dyers' workshops relied on water from the spring in the gardens and the flow was too irregular to be relied on at all times. The canals collected and stored large amounts of water that could be available anytime.

The canals were laid out in the eighteenth century on the site of an ancient spring and in an area that includes the Tour Magne, which hovers on a hilltop above the garden, and the Temple of Diana, located on the west side of the garden. It is interesting that an engineering public works project like this would exact such beauty and detail. It begs the question that if the canal were built today, would planners have taken such pains to design such a beautiful and accessible place instead of a functional water works project of steel and concrete?

 

The sculptures of the Nymphaeum were commissioned specifically for the Jardin de la Fontaine. The central figure represents the Nymph of Spring, who is sitting over the original spring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This patch of green grass with a palm tree in the midst of the stone is the resident ducks' respite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nîmes underwent some major beautification projects during the eighteenth century, however, the Jardins de la Fontaine by Jacques-Philippe Mareschal, the king's military engineer, and Nîmes' architect Pierre Dardailhon was a major achievement (1740-1749). The Romans had used this site as a source for water. It was abandoned during the Middle Ages but was later discovered during work on regulating the flow of the spring.

   

 

The statues and urns were purchased in 1747 when the Château de la Mosson near Montpelier was demolished. The following Greek gods are placed around the Source: Hades (holding a cornucopia symbolizing the underground world's wealth), Pan (fertility god), Dionysus (god of wine), and a man holding a torch.

The canals snake through the northwestern part of the city to create some interesting structures that extend over a large part of the city.

 

 

   

 

The park is a destination for many different publics. Here some young people on a school track team run through the park. The park is also a venue for concerts as indicated by the stage below.

 

 

The beautiful backdrop of the fountain provides stairways that lead to Tower of Magne (right), which is a steep climb to the summit of the hill. The 32 meter high Gallo-Roman structure was built in the third century AD for defensive purposes.

 

    

A statue of the poet, Antoine Bigot (1825-97), stands near the bottom of the grand staircase on the eastern side of the garden. He was the first French poet to write in in the Languedoc or Occitan language, which is spoken in southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, Catalonia, and southern Italy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The symbol of Nimes is an alligator and palm tree. It goes back to Roman times when the Emperor Augustus conquered his arch rival, Marc Antony and his lover, Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Here it tops the gates of the Jardin de la Fontaine, but the symbols are found everywhere in the city in various forms. 

 

 

Two views of the grand walkway leading up to the Jardin lines the street on both sides. This is a popular walking area with the rush of water swooshing past pedestrians.

 

 

 

The walkway is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the flood of October 3, 1988. Notice the logo of Nimes: the alligator and palm tree.

 

                        

Resources

 

Nimes Office of Tourism