Arènes de Nîmes

The Arènes de Nîmes is a Roman amphitheatre that ranks among the best-preserved in the world, and it stands in the middle of the city of Nîmes in the Gard, a short walk from the Maison Carrée. It was built around the end of the first century AD, on an oval plan about 133 metres long and 101 metres wide, with a facade about 21 metres high in two tiers, each with sixty arches. The stone is local limestone, and the monument could seat around twenty thousand spectators, who reached their places through a clear system of corridors and stairs.

The building was designed for the kind of entertainment that the Romans loved: gladiator combats and fights with wild animals, staged in front of an audience from every part of the city. Its survival owes something to later reuse. In the Middle Ages the arena became a fortified enclosure, and a small district of houses and even a church were built inside it, a transformation that protected the structure from being quarried for stone. These residential buildings were cleared away in the early nineteenth century, and the arena was restored to something close to its Roman appearance. Compared with the amphitheatre at Arles, which is slightly larger, the Nîmes arena has kept more of its upper level, and the cornice with its carved bull heads can still be seen.

Today the arena is a busy venue. It hosts bullfights, in the Spanish style, at the Féria de Nîmes at Pentecost and in September, as well as concerts and other shows, and in spring the Journées Romaines bring gladiators, chariots and reconstructions of Roman life. A visit usually includes an audio guide and an exhibition on gladiators and on bullfighting, and you can walk up through the tiers to the top for views over the roofs and the city. The seats are of stone, so a cushion is a sound idea if you stay for an event.

The site is open every day with seasonal hours, with later closing in summer, and last entry comes shortly before closing. It is accessible to many visitors with reduced mobility and has audio guides and guided tours. Combined tickets with other monuments of the city are often available.

The arena suits those who are curious about Roman history, families who like active reconstructions and anyone planning a day among the monuments of Nîmes. It is near the Maison Carrée, the Carré d'Art, the Musée de la Romanité and the Jardin de la Fontaine, which together make Nîmes one of the richest cities for Roman monuments in France.