The Cabes at Le Pont du Gard

Not far from Nimes is the Pont du Gard, an aquaduct built around 50 AD. It was built to bring water to the city of Nimes in order to support the Roman lifestyle of baths, parks, and fountains. It is 48 m high and 490 m high. The middle, and largest, arch straddles the Gardon River. The Pont du Gard is definitely impressive to look at, but when you read about the history and the sheer genius of the engineers, it becomes even more impressive. The size of the huge blocks of stones used (some weighing more than 6 tons!) meant that they could be put in place without the use of mortar. The Gardon River is known to flood, and for almost 2000 years, the Pont du Gard has withstood everything nature has thrown at her. As my french students would say, "trop cool!".