Every design for Nîmes

Nîmes shares its name with Nemausus, a god honoured by the Gauls of the area, and its first oppidum stood on the hill of Mont Cavalier. The Romans then made it one of their finest cities in Gaul, so much so that it is called the most Roman city outside Italy.

The Arènes de Nîmes are the proof: an amphitheatre still standing in the middle of town, around which the summer ferias draw their crowds. A short walk away stands the Maison Carrée, the Roman monument UNESCO added to its World Heritage list. The Tour Magne crowns the hill above the old sanctuary, and the Temple de Diane and the Porte d'Auguste fill in more of the Roman picture. Later Nîmes became a Protestant stronghold, then a textile town famous for its denim cloth. The Musée de la Romanité tells the Roman part of the story.

For anyone who grew up here, the map is a map of childhood: summers on the steps of the arena, walks up to the Tour Magne and the old streets that lead between them.