The Pont du Gard

  If you have ever the desire to travel back in time, France is the perfect place to do it. Recently, I undertook such a journey, spending nearly a month wandering throughout central and southern France in search of the glory that once was Rome. The journey took me back 2000 years and enabled me to experience some of the magnificence of this incredible age and a small impression of what life must have been like when Caesar Augustus ruled over Gaul. Scattered throughout the region are some of the best preserved Roman ruins in all of Europe – ruins that speak volumes about the ingenuity and engineering skills of a empire that once encompassed much of Europe. Many of the ruins pre-date the birth Christ, are in exceptionally good condition and are still being utilized today. They’re classic examples of the Roman’s amazing construction skills. In the City of Lyon, I sat in awe in the 2000-year-old Roman amphitheatre that seats more than 2,000 people, hardly aware of workmen preparing for a weekend musical event. Today, it remains in remarkable condition. In the City of Vienne I witnessed an African festival being held in the shadow of a Gallo-Roman temple built between 20-10 BC, during the reign of Augustus. Vienne is also the sight of a Roman theater-one of the largest urban theaters in Roman times, second in Gaul after the Autun Theater. With a seating capacity of 13,000, every year it is the sight of the internationally famous Vienne Jazz Festival. The two-week affair draws more than 100,000 spectators. The delightful City of Orange in Provence is the site of the best-preserved Roman theater in all of Europe. I watched a group of young ballet dancers rehearse their routine on the theater’s immense stage. The rehearsal took place under the watchful eye of Caesar Augustus perched high in an alcove above the stage. I climbed to the upper reaches of first century Roman arenas in Arles and Nimes-arenas that today seats 20,000 people for bull fights and concerts. Also in Nimes I spent an afternoon leisurely wandering through spacious Roman Gardens and visited the ruins of the Temple of Diana. These are but a few impressive edifices I toured, but none captivated my imagination as much as the Pont du Gard, a Roman bridge that spans the River Gard. Located 30 miles north-east of Nimes, this graceful bridge is the highest type of construction ever built by the Romans. It rises 157 feet above the river and is 902 feet long. It is, without a doubt, one of the greatest engineering feats of all time. The engineers who built Pont du Gard, with its triple tier of graceful arches, were concerned with more than functionality. They also had an eye for the aesthetics. This was apparent upon catching my first glimpse of this magnificent structure bathed in the golden glow of the early morning sunlight. Pont du Gard is the crowning glory of a 31-mile aqueduct that carried fresh spring water from the Eure River source in Uzes, to supply the fountains and fancy thermal baths in the flourishing city Nimes. It has been serving that purpose for nearly 500 years. Built in 19 B.C. under the watchful eye of Agrippa, the son-in-law of Caesar Augustus, Pond du Gard is the crown jewel of an immense aqueduct that every day delivered more than 20,000 cubic meters of water to feed the fountains and baths of Nimes for more than 500 years. In building the aqueduct, the engineers faced the difficult task of slight difference in altitude between collection and delivery point. Over the distance of 31 miles there is an incline of only 23 feet or a gradient of 20 inches per mile. In certain parts the run in percentage is .007 percent. Adding to the difficulty were the natural obstacles and the rise and fall of the ground which precluded a straight run. Along the way they encountered rocky hillsides, streambeds, broken slopes, ravines, depressions and other obstacles. We must remember that 2000 years ago pumps did not exist. They were solely dependent on gravity. One remains dumbfounded at the mastery and precision displayed in light the crude instrument with which that had to work. Though much of the aqueduct has been buried or over the years dismantled, the Pont du Gard has stood for centuries as a monument ingenuity and unequalled achievement by the Romans. Although it attracts over a million visitors a year, the Pont du Gard has only recently become tourist-friendly. In 200l a construction project added two major parking lots well out of the line of sight along with a meandering, shaded pedestrian walkway leading to the bridge. Part of the construction project was a museum where the “man, stone and water” exhibit offers a brilliant explanation of the construction techniques. An in-house theater screens a movie that depicts mobile lovers beginning a passionate affair beneath the arches. Children will find much to keep them amused; there’s an impressive game room where they can learn facts about Roman architecture. The highlight of the summer season is an evening light show projected against the arches produced by artist James Turrell. In addition, there are several boutiques, a restaurant and snack bars. Upon returning to our car, I turned and took one last look at Pont du Gard, still glowing in the morning sunlight. For one brief moment I dreaded that once again I would have to return to the 21st century. —Originally from Canada, Bob Christman lives with his wife Joyce in Portland, Oregon. They travel to France whenever they can.